Hurry Up and Save Me
by ImaSupernaturalCSI
Summary: Children disappear from locked fifth-story apartments. Someone watches Spencer Reid's every move. The line between good guys and UNSUBS is blurred. And the least likely suspect offers to help Reid with their case, which could be the death of them both.
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of "Criminal Minds"-they are property of Jeff Davis and CBS. The title, "Hurry Up and Save Me" is a song by Tiffany Giardina. I don't own that either. The song got stuck in my head while I was driving, and flashes of a story were coming to me as I heard it. _

_**Author's Note:** _

_1. Vampires are overdone. This is something I know. But I couldn't get this out of my head, and as a writer, it wouldn't leave me alone til it got written down._

_2. There are more cliches in this story than I can count. But with the oversaturation of vampires in the media lately, it's hard to come up with something completely original._

_3. This is my first attempt at a Criminal Minds story. There shall be no pairings. As you can tell from the story specs, it features Reid pretty prominently. And my vampire, Aura. The story will shift back and forth between_ Reid's POV _and **Aura's POV**. But I'm not hooking them up. And don't expect much in the profiling department. What I know about it comes from watching the show and a book I picked up in the Bargain Bin at Barnes and Noble!_

_4. I love constructive criticism. It helps me write. It makes for a better story. But I also know that it's a reviewer's right to flame if they want. Knock yourself out. I really do want to know what you think-the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Reviews make my day. Everyone says that, but it's true._

5. _If there's a record for longest author's note-this is probably it. :) That being said, enjoy._

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE**

_**I was born the night of the Great Chicago Fire.**_

_**Except when I say "born," I don't mean your everyday birth. You know, the "First a mommy and a daddy have to meet…" thing. Your typical embarrassing explanation to a five-year-old. In fact, maybe I should just rephrase.**_

_**I **_**died**_** the night of the Great Chicago Fire.**_

_**And then I came alive again.**_

_**Well…sort of.**_

_**I'm a little shy of 140 years old. For those of you who want to call me out, yeah, okay, I'm 138. But I still look the same age as when I died-the ripe ol' age of 20. My eyes are the same gray they always were. My hair is still black, though it's changed in style over the years. Right now I'm sporting a navy streak down one side, kinda like that chick from the X-Men movies. I'm pretty fond of it, actually. I'm just a little paler, that's all. I'm more or less still me.**_

_**There's definitely perks to being vampiric. The speed, that's cool. I can run a city block in about three seconds. The super-strength, that's neat. I can open all my own pickle jars and move a VW Beetle with one hand. The two of them combined-well, those guys that do parkour would be hugely jealous over the fact that I can jump two stories straight up. If I wanted to cross DC, I could maybe do it in about ten or fifteen minutes because there isn't anything I can't go up, around or over. Through, too, though that's a little conspicuous. Even the mind-reading is all right sometimes. It really comes in handy playing poker, thought most of the people I play with are trying to read my thoughts as well while I'm trying to get a bead on theirs. There are thoughts, though, that I'd rather not hear. My eyesight and night vision are amazing-the Special Forces have nothin' on me. I always wonder what would happen if I joined the military. I could be one hell of a sniper-and I wouldn't even need the scope.**_

_**The blood. That's a downside. The constant dependence is ridiculous. I'm like a cocaine addict, I have to have my fix. Except I don't feed off of humans. Rats and strays don't taste as good, but at least I am not a murderer. The others in my clan think I'm crazy, but they don't really care, as long as I protect our existence one way or the other. And I figure I'm doing the city a favor-I'm keeping it clean. Ha.**_

_**The cops know something's up, but there's never any witnesses, there's never anyone left alive. The others are very, very careful. The safety of the twenty of us in this city is dependent on that, and the others like us around the country. They have a stack of unsolved murders and two missing persons cases they will never solve. And as much as it sucks, it has to stay that way.**_

_**At least it does if I…if we…want to live.**_

"_**Aura? What you thinking about?"**_

_**We were standing on the rooftop of Union Station. It's one of the best places in the city to just come sit and think. It was chilly tonight, even by my standards. I turned to my companion. Merrick is 16, for all points and purposes. A newbie to our way of life. Merrick is learning from me-he didn't ask for this life, and doesn't ever want to take another. He originally was a meal ticket until the gal that changed him decided to make him a partner. Shaggy blonde hair, blue eyes, and a penchant for rock group T-shirts and jeans, he a typical teenager. He can drive me up the wall sometimes.**_

"_**Just thinkin'," I replied. It's true, I wasn't really thinking of anything in particular. It's a good coping mechanism to just let my mind wander. You'd think after like 140 years I'd have accepted this role, but the truth is, every day I wake up hoping someone can fix me. I didn't ask for this life. It was thrust on me by force. I know what you're thinking-it's so typical. A vampire that doesn't want to be a vampire. Well, clichéd as Hollywood's made it, it's true. To have your life taken from you by force, I mean, even flesh and blood humans can relate to that somehow, can't they?**_

_**Two large black SUVs and a horde of police cars came screeching by at that moment. Merrick leaned over to get a better look. "Come on," he said excitedly, glancing around before vaulting over the side of the building.**_

"_**Merrick!" I yelled, then shaking my head, followed him. Like I said, a typical teenager. He landed on the concrete easily and took off at a run. And quick, too. I had a hard time keeping up with him as he darted through the darkness, following the sirens. He scaled an apartment building, only using the fire escape as a boost. I shook my head with a smile. I hadn't just gone for a run in a while, and I missed it. This was fun. Pretty soon we were trying to outdo each other, jumping higher, running faster. Merrick beat me to the scene, but not by much. He looked back at me and stuck his tongue out. "Old lady," he teased. He hit the top of the roof and leapt off the other side, coming to a stop on the roof of another complex next door. Merrick peeked over the edge. The police were fanning out, and some of the neighbors were following them. I heard a woman crying hysterically. "There's a little girl missing," Merrick reported.**_

_**I listened into the conversation of one of the FBI agents that acted like he was in charge. He was tall, with dark hair and eyes. He was barking orders to the Metro police. He turned to two of the agents-one was an older man with graying hair (I wondered why he wasn't in charge) and a woman with dark hair. They were going up to the apartment. Curiosity got the best of me, and I leaned over the edge, trying to listen in to the conversation. I heard them step into the apartment and walk into the little girl's room.**_

"_**The front door was locked, Rossi," the woman agent said. "They said they don't keep a key outside. There's no outside access. So how did someone walk into this apartment and walk out with Abby Shannon?"**_

_**He looked at her seriously. "What do we know about the family?" he countered.**_

"_**You think this is an inside job?" The woman didn't sound surprised. Sad, when something like this was a feasible possibility.**_

_**And yet…I leaned a little farther down. Then I could smell it. It smelled a little like humans, but something was…off.**_

_**And I knew what had taken that little girl.**_

_**This wasn't right. And it didn't make any sense. As far as I knew, nobody out of the 20 of us in this town would do something to bring the heat on us like this. Nobody was that stupid. I felt anger welling up inside me, a dangerous emotion. Who would take a little girl from her family? And why on earth would a vampire take a little girl at all? And who in the hell in our crew would be stupid enough to do something that could expose us all?**_

_**Nikko wouldn't be happy to hear about this.**_

_**I came back up. Merrick looked at me. "I smell vampire," he said.**_

_**I nodded. "Does it smell familiar to you? I can't get a read on it."**_

_**He leaned over. "No. There's too many humans around."Merrick bit his bottom lip. "There's too much blood in the air," he said finally. He looked at me curiously. "You think it's someone we know? Or somebody new in town?" He shifted from his left foot to his right. "Man…I'm gettin' hungry."**_

_**I shook my head. "Me too, kid." He's right, the blood was driving me insane. Like sharks in a chum slick. I did the mental math-there were only thirty of them down there. The guns didn't matter. Merrick and I could be in and gone in…I pushed the thoughts from my mind. I wouldn't lose control, not now when I needed to be focused more than ever. A voice caught my ear, and I leaned back over the edge again. A young man was standing with the agent in charge. He was talking about the difference in statistics between a family and a non-family abduction. I shook my head; he sounded like a textbook. He also didn't look old enough to know all this-I bet he barely pushed thirty.**_

_**I realized as I listened to the conversation that these people were profilers. So their job was to get inside the head of the criminal and figure him out. This potentially was not good. Although I was fairly certain that the six people in front of me probably would never get around to "vampire" on their suspect list…I returned my gaze to the youngest member of the group, who was now spouting off stats about this particular part of DC…well, **_**he**_** might.**_

_**This was something I was going to have to keep a close eye on.**_

_**But first, someone was going to have to tell Nikko. And I wasn't looking forward to that conversation in the slightest. I turned to Merrick, and gave him a smile I hoped belied the fact that I was very, very nervous. "Race you back to the Hollow?"**_

_**He smiled widely. "You're on."**_


	2. Chapter 1

_**CHAPTER ONE**_

I hate working cases when kids are the victims. On an everyday basis, I deal with the lowest scum of society, but anyone who would hurt a kid definitely gets pushed to the top of my scum list. I spouted off the statistics of stranger versus family abductions, and I hated the fact that it was something I was forced to recall.

I looked over at the parents. Tom and Rachel Shannon were already exhibiting the signs of grief- starting to argue, starting to fight, stating claims such as, "If I had only done this…" or "If you had just done more of this…" and it sucks because there isn't anything they could have done.

But I couldn't tell them that, of course. They wouldn't believe me.

Sometimes, it sucks to know everything.

"Reid."

I jerked at the sound of my name. Turning, I saw Emily and Rossi coming out of the apartment complex. Emily looked like the epitome of a female FBI agent- black slacks, blue button-down shirt and black blazer. Rossi was more relaxed in a tie and jeans with his boots. I think he never really quit the whole "retirement" thing, at least not in clothing options. I tend to feel like everybody's little brother-maybe it's time to switch from the sweater vest and tie combo. But I won't get rid of the mismatched socks or the Converse.

The neighbors were starting to gather. Already I could see it in their body language, in their eyes, that some of them were blaming the Shannons for what had happened to Abby. Transference-placing the things that made them score low in the parenting department onto the Shannons to make them feel better about themselves.

"Did you find anything?" I asked Emily Prentiss.

"It's a fifth floor apartment, no fire escape. The little girl's room is that window, there." Emily pointed. I glanced up, and for a moment, swore I saw someone standing on the roof. But when I blinked, they were gone. "The doors were locked, the windows were shut."

"And no signs of forced entry?"

David Rossi shook his head. "Nothing."

"Dave," Aaron Hotchner said, coming over. "What's on your mind?" Hotch stuck out like the poster child for the FBI-suit, tie, polished shoes...yeah, I definitely needed to rethink the sweater vest.

Rossi shrugged. "I don't know. Something doesn't add up. I can't put my finger on it."

This case was starting to bother me. I mean, it was bothering everybody because even crime scene couldn't figure out how the unsub got in, and because there were kids involved. But it was bothering me because it was the third one like it that we'd had within a couple of months. The first one, Kaylie Briggs, disappeared from her bed about a month ago. We were still following up leads, but batting zero. The second, Laurie Anderson, vanished in the same way about two weeks ago. I know the statistics on their percentage of survival chances, but there's always a small part of me that's hoping we're gonna find them and return them.

"Hey, guys."

That was the voice of Derek Morgan. Morgan takes it hard when the victims are kids, too. This case had gotten under his skin. We all turned. "Hotch wants us back at Quantico tonight to work a profile." I couldn't figure out how he wasn't freezing in a black T-shirt and jeans.

"I hope they restocked the coffee supply," Emily said. "I'm gonna need a pound of sugar."

"As long as you save some for me," I replied.

I turned back to the apartment building. And this time, I was positive that someone was staring back at me from the roof. But then, just like that, whoever it was had disappeared.

Maybe this was starting to get under my skin, too. I followed Morgan and JJ over to the SUVs and hopped in. My mind was already covering a map of DC with the locations of the abductions. Geographic profiles were my specialty. Either that or nobody else liked doing them, I'm not sure.

* * *

Back at the BAU, I knocked on Garcia's door. I knew she was still there. Garcia wouldn't go home with another little girl missing. "The Great and Powerful Oz is in!" she yelled from behind the door.

I grinned. It was nice to have something to smile about. She turned from her screens and gave me a sympathetic smile. "You okay, Boy Wonder?"

It made me feel a little better to see the Trollz dolls, the "Tech Kitten" mug and her bright pink fingernails. But just a little. "No." I replied. "Can you bring up the information on the victims' homes?" God, it sucked referring to elementary school girls as victims.

"Sure, sweetie." Garcia tapped a few keys and the monitors were filled with small, smiling faces. I stood in front of her map, a grid of DC superimposed on the back wall so I could plug in the lights on her glass map but see DC in the back.

I put the locations on the map and stepped back to get the full picture. I frowned. Garcia caught it. "What's up, Doc?"

"These points are all over the map," I said. "Look, here's the Shannon abduction from tonight. But here, Kaylie Briggs lived over five miles from the Shannons, and Laurie Anderson lived twenty miles away." I shook my head. "Usually with a geographic profile, there's some consistency, some center point, you can usually deduce the UnSub lives somewhere in there."

"But not here," Garcia said.

"But not here," I agreed.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of "Criminal Minds," they belong to Jeff Davis and CBS.**

CHAPTER TWO

_**The twenty of us live together in what we call the Hollow. Not the most original name, and it's all over in fiction, but y'know, it works for us. Nobody could come up with anything creative when Nikko suggested we name it. I wouldn't have named it at all, but a 'suggestion' from Nikko is more of an order. It's an old abandoned subway stop the city never got around to closing. Merrick and I returned back to the Hollow around ten. The majority of the inhabitants were gone, probably out for a drink. Nikko and Carolina were seated on the couch in front of the news. As I came into the room, I was watching the exact place I had just been ten minutes ago.**_

"_**Don't you hate watching the news, Aura?" Carolina's sweet voice echoed in the dark. "It's all doom and gloom."**_

_**Carolina, in human years, is only thirty. Ten years older than I was in life. But Carolina is old. Like, Julius Caesar old. Thought you'd never know it. She's got red hair and green eyes and perfect skin. She and Nikko are the oldest of us all, and they sort of run our little community. Mainly, Nikko looks out for number one and watches the rest of us so we don't jeopardize our secret, or threatens to rip us apart if someone gets a little trigger-happy with the homeless population. I really didn't want to be the one to break this news. If I wanted, I could have just stood there and let them get it out of my head. But Nikko wanted to hear it from me. And you didn't tell Nikko no. "Carolina, it's about to get a lot worse," I replied unhappily.**_

_**That made the two of them put the TV on mute and turn to me. "What have you to say, Aura?" Nikko asked. His Mediterranean features furrowed in mild curiosity. He would be gorgeous if he wasn't so damned terrifying.**_

"_**That little girl was in the presence of a vampire when she disappeared," I informed them. "And the FBI is involved."**_

"_**A vampire." Nikko sounded it out. He turned to Merrick and I. I felt Merrick cringe. He's scared stiff of Nikko and Carolina. "Any idea who it may have been?" He was talking to Merrick. If Merrick had a heart that could stop, I'm sure it would have then.**_

"_**N-no, sir," Merrick said softly. "Too many humans around. It masked the scent."**_

"_**I see." Nikko restored the volume on the screen. I saw the blonde-haired FBI agent making a statement, asking the public for any help. "Thank you, Aura."**_

_**His tone made it clear that it was the end of the conversation. I knew Nikko would look into it. He had no qualms about hunting down and interrogating one of his own.**_

"_**Come on, kid," I whispered to Merrick, and pulled him out of the room.**_

"_**Aura? Merrick." The voice belonged to Alana. Alana was a…recent hire. Older than Merrick, though, she was changed in the 50s, but hey, that's recent for us. She caught the look on my face. "What's going on?"**_

"_**You should go sleep, kiddo," I told Merrick. He didn't argue. Merrick's skittish around everyone in the clan but me. Even Alana, who looks like a bobbysocked hula-hoop champ, with her blonde hair and blue eyes, freaks him out a bit. When he had disappeared into the cove he shared with Lex, I turned to Alana. "Come on, let's go to my room."**_

_**Alana followed me down the tunnel a little way to an old utility room that I had converted to my little haven. I sat down on the couch cushions I had converted to a bed, and Alana knelt down next to me. "A vampire kidnapped a little girl tonight," I told her.**_

_**Alana's eyes widened. "Who would be that stupid?" she demanded.**_

_**I shook my head. "I can't imagine anyone going against Nikko."**_

"_**What use would a vampire have for a child?"**_

_**Again, I shook my head. "I thought about it. Even for those of us who, well…**_**like**_** this job, they have no use for a child. There's no increase in strength or power, and no one I know is sadistic enough to go after a child."**_

"_**Are the police looking into it? Do you think…"**_

"_**No. They'll never jump to something supernatural," I replied. "But the profilers…"**_

"_**The what?"**_

_**I bit my bottom lip. "They brought in the FBI. This isn't the first missing girl. A special unit. They're profilers, they try to get into the criminal's head." My mind flashed back to the serious one with the dark eyes, and the geeky one with the endless stream of numbers and percentages. They were good at their job. We had to hope they weren't **_**that**_** good.**_

"_**If DC Metro won't make the connection to vampire, there's no way they will," Alana said reassuringly. But then she frowned. "I just don't know who's sick enough among us to want to change a child."**_

"_**Some of us are a little twisted," an Irish lilt agreed from my doorway, and I stiffened.**_

"_**Brody," Alana acknowledged, though it was more of a curse than a greeting.**_

_**I don't like Brody. Brody exudes this aura of…I don't know. He enjoys this life a little too much. Brody was changed in Ireland around the time of the potato famine. He's got black hair and green eyes and has never lost his accent, always sounding like a cast member of **_**The Boondock Saints**_**. He's a big and beefy guy and prefers his prey to get thrown out of bar fights. That way they're already pissed off and fighting mad. Brody likes a challenge.**_

"_**So the cops are involved, eh?" he said. "Special cops. Profilers. Cops with bigger brains."**_

"_**Nikko already knows," Alana told him. "He'll straighten this out."**_

"_**That a fact?" Brody said. "Do we know what those profilers know?"**_

"_**Please, Brody," I scoffed, more for my benefit than his. "Give me a break. They won't put two and two together and get bloodsucker."**_

"_**Still. It's worth keeping an eye or four on, now isn't it."**_

"_**Screw you, Brody. You just want an excuse to torture something." I bit.**_

_**He waggled his eyebrows. Which was creepy enough on a normal person, but downright eerie coming from him. "You may be right about that."**_

"_**Killing one of the FBI's finest? Are you insane?" I asked him. "Nikko would be thrilled."**_

"_**I never said I'd kill them," Brody observed with a sick smile, and then faded from my doorway.**_

_**I shivered. "He freakin' creeps me out," I told Alana.**_

"_**He creeps us **_**all**_** out," Alana replied. "You really think he'd go after one of the agents to see what they know?"**_

"_**I hope not," I said. "God help them if he does."**_


	4. Chapter 3

_**CHAPTER THREE**_

Laurie Anderson. Age seven. Lived in a two bedroom house with her mom and dad. Played piano. Disappeared from her first floor bedroom in the middle of the night.

Kaylie Briggs. Age five. Her mother came in to wake her up for her first day of preschool. But she wasn't in her bed.

And Abby Shannon. Age six. Lived in a five-story apartment building with no outside access.

In all three cases the doors were locked. They found fingerprints at the first two scenes but they had no match in any database. Abby Shannon's case was the most unique, as there was no way for this little girl to disappear out her window. Yet it looked like that's what had happened. Normally, with no forced entry suspicion would turn to the family members, but all signs pointed to a loving family. This case was driving me crazy. And no amount of caffeine was helping.

"You look like you're about to fall over, Reid," I heard Hotch say from behind me.

"I'm fine," I said, embarrassed that he'd noticed. "Just need another shot of coffee." I winced at my choice of words. I don't ever want a shot of anything _ever_ again. Let's just say caffeine is the _tamest_ thing I've been addicted to.

"Go home," Hotch said. "You didn't sleep on the ride home from Olathe yesterday, either."

"I'll give you a ride, kid," Morgan offered as he shrugged into his jacket. "I gotta go feed the dog. I haven't seen him all day."

"Thanks, but I'll just catch the bus from Lexington," I replied. "There's actually a midnight release party at a bookstore I want to go hit up."

"Not another _Harry Potter_?" Rossi groused from the water cooler.

"What's the matter, Rossi?" JJ teased from over by Emily's desk. "JK Rowling beat you on the Times bestseller list too often?"

"Please," Rossi scoffed with a grin. "She's good, but she's not _that_ good."

I laughed. "Technically, they would be competing on two separate lists," I said. "Fiction versus nonfiction. And I've read _Harry Potter_ through six times already. No, this is the complete Star Trek encyclopedia, with a total floor plan of the _Enterprise_ and an atlas of the universe, along with a full crew listing and a list of all the deceased red shirts from every season."

Emily held up her hand in the Vulcan peace sign. "Trekkie," she accused.

I looked at her solemnly and returned the hand gesture. "Guilty." Emily laughed.

"Come on Reid, it's late. The creeps are out," Morgan said. "Let me drive you."

I raised an eyebrow. "You want to go stand at a bookstore full of costumed _Trek_ fans in the middle of the night?"

He grimaced. "That's what I thought. I'll be fine." I shouldered my bag. "I'll see you all in a few hours."

"_Sleep_, Reid," Hotch ordered from the stairs.

"Aye aye," I muttered from the doors. From behind me, I could've sworn I saw Hotch smile in the glass.

* * *

I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching me. I'd been feeling it since the crime scene. _Probably should've let Morgan give me a ride after all,_ I thought. I didn't even want to leave the BAU tonight, I could've slept at my desk. I really wanted to get back to work on the profile. Clearly we were missing something. But Hotch was right, I needed to sleep. I figured I could sleep for three hours, and be recharged enough to get going again. So now here I was, walking down to the bus station to get on a bus downtown, then to my apartment. I have an aversion to cabs since the vigilante in New York City.

I heard something. I froze in place. _Something was behind me_. I turned around.

Nothing. The sidewalk was dark. The street was empty. The only sound was my heavy breathing and the wind blowing leaves down the street.

My fingers shook as I punched in Morgan's number on my cell phone. Maybe if I just had someone to talk with on the walk back, even if it was going to be Morgan reaming me out for not hitching a ride, I'd feel less paranoid. But as I hit the last digit, I tripped on a ridge in the sidewalk. The phone flew out of my hand and crashed and thunked its way to the platform below.

I looked down. _Don't even think about it, Reid._ It was pitch black-even the homeless guy who usually busked down there with his Chihuahua was gone by this time of night. _This was stupid, Reid, _I told myself. Damn it, I should have just gotten that ride. Morgan would say something like, _Not so brilliant move, for the smartest guy I know_. It seems like I'm always the one that gets into trouble. Like it's attracted to me. If humans have nine lives I know I'm running short. The statistics speak for themselves, I probably should be dead under normal circumstances. I've been held hostage, been in more bad situations than I can count on both hands. It's like the Powers That Be have it out for me. And in the words of Han Solo, of Indiana Jones, of Obi Wan Kenobi…I had a bad feeling about this.

But I needed my phone. Or the pieces of my phone, I had a sneaky suspicion it wasn't all one unit anymore. I sighed, and started down the stairs. In the light of a neon advertisement for a gentleman's club, I spotted it on the platform. Remarkably, it was in one piece. Cracked, but in one piece. I reached to grab it.

This time I heard it-footsteps behind me. A hand grabbed the back of my jacket. My head went forward and met something _hard_.

Before I passed out, I thought, _I wonder what life that was? _That was the last I remembered. Well…at least I sort of saw it coming this time.


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of "Criminal Minds"-they belong to Jeff Davis and CBS.**

**Author's Note: To my readers and reviewers: Ya'll are awesome. Your reviews make my day. Thanks so much!**

**CHAPTER FOUR**

_**I couldn't figure out exactly what Brody was doing. This little guy he was following didn't seem like his usual prey-Brody liked a challenge. In fact, he preferred bar fights where the meal got thrown out. I kept a little ways behind him, though, just in case. And yet I knew that out of everyone on that team, this would be the first kid to figure it out. I didn't even need to dig inside his head to come up with that one. And when I caught Brody sneaking out of the Hollow as I downed a rat-tastic supper, I knew he was up to something.**_

_**When I saw him walking the fenceline at Quantico, I knew something very serious was going down. But Brody was smart, he knew better than to jump the fence. The fate the MPs had for him would be nothing compared to when Nikko got ahold of him if he got caught by the military. So Brody waited for something outside the gates. And I waited too, to see what Brody was after. When I saw the little geek from the crime scene earlier, I instantly knew what Brody was going to do. I kept tails on them. This kid apparently had tons of book smarts, but zero common sense. Why the hell would you walk to work at Quantico? Then I watched the kid drop his cell phone, and decide to go after it. And I saw Brody…**_

_**Damn it. I knew where this was going.**_

_**Then I saw Brody slam the guy's head into one of the brick pillars. He collapsed like a sack of potatoes, dead weight. Brody rifled through his bag. I couldn't see what he was looking for. But when I saw him go for the kid's neck, I zipped down the stairs. I grabbed his shoulder and threw him off. He hadn't bit the kid yet. I breathed a sigh of relief, not entirely sure why I cared so much.**_

"_**What the hell, Aura?" Brody asked in his Irish lilt.**_

_**I growled, my canine teeth extending just a hair longer. My eyes shifted from their normal gray to an off-white, icy blue. "Back off," I hissed at him. "This one's mine."**_

_**He changed too, moving closer to the unconscious agent. "Staking a claim, Aura?" he hissed.**_

"_**You said you wouldn't kill him." I bit back. "And yet, you're gettin' ready to chow down. So I'm saving your ass from Nikko. And the rest of ours."**_

_**He grinned. "I didn't think you cared."**_

_**I snarled, covering the distance between him and I in less than half a second. I grabbed him by the collar and threw him back against the brick. I heard the mortar crack. "I don't. Stay **_**away**_**, Brody. He's **__**mine**__**." I let Brody go, and he dropped the four feet to the platform, but lightly, his reflexes kicking in.**_

"_**Be careful, Aura," he said. It wasn't out of concern for me.**_

_**It was a warning.**_

_**As if I didn't know the dangers of getting involved with a human. Others in my clan had tried it, but it never ended well. In fact, I highly suspected there were probably a few cases in the FBI files that had the tell-tale markings of a vampire gone awry. **_

_**But it was worse than that. Because the number one rule in our world is keep the secret. The world can't know vampires exist. It would turn into a modern-day Salem. We'd be hunted down, even those of us who didn't feast on human blood. And if Nikko or Carolina ever found out…they'd stop it at the source. No one in the clan was allowed to compromise our existence. Nikko had no qualms about ripping an offender into pieces. I'd seen him do it.**_

_**I looked down at the unconscious FBI agent. He was really, really young. The kid looked hardly old enough to be out of high school, let alone be in one of the top units in the FBI. Longer brown hair, glasses slightly askew from Brody slamming his head into the pillar.** _Stupid kid**, _I thought_.** Walking into a freakin' subway tunnel in the dark in the middle of DC**…**_**I checked his pulse, inwardly fighting the urge to sink my teeth into him. The jugular vein stuck out, begging to be punctured and for me to suck the life out of him. But I fought hard, and the instinct lessened. The kid would be okay, but it was a hard hit. I rummaged through his bag, thankful that nobody else had the sense to come into this subway tunnel tonight. I found his badge, flipped it open.** _Supervisory Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid_**. Wow, what a mouthful.** _Behavioral Analysis Unit. _**Well, now I had a name. What I needed though…I rifled through his bag some more, finally finding a driver's license amid all the case files. Bingo. I picked him up-wow, he was light. I mean, I can pick up a VW Bug with no problem, but this kid was like picking up a piece of paper. He lived about four more blocks from here. I carried him to the top of the stairs on the other side. Then I carefully set him on his feet and threw one of his arms around my shoulder. He was easy enough to carry, but I tried to make it look difficult, keeping up the charade that Aura was just out with her drunk friend and he'd had a few too many. It must have looked awkward to anyone passing by- he was about half a head taller than me.**_

_**A kid on a skateboard walked past us, eyeing me carefully. I just shifted Dr. Spencer Reid on my shoulder a little more and ignored him. It would have been really funny to let him see my eyes change, probably would give him nightmares til he was twenty-one. What's the point of being a supernatural freak if you can't have a little fun now and again?**_

_**Once I hit the residential part, I picked him all the way up again. Less people around to see, and I didn't have to continue the act. I found his apartment easily. I found a key in his pocket and unlocked the door, carrying him inside to the couch without turning the lights on. I set him down carefully. Wandering, I found the bathroom and a first aid kit. I'm no doctor, but I patched him up as best I could. He was okay, just a little bloody. And still unconscious. Then, curious as to how my patch job would hold up, I did flip on the lamp in the living room. And got my first real good look at the, well, the organized chaos that was the home of Dr. Spencer Reid.**_

_**I had expected the bookshelves. And I also expected the huge volume of psychology reference books, the latest copy of the DSM, and a few books by a David Rossi that were all on serial killers and profiling psychology.** **Bet that made for scintillating bedtime reading. What I didn't expect were the shelves of Star Trek novels and Star Wars books. I also saw a complete set of Lord of the Rings. I chuckled to myself; the kid was the epitome of geek.**_

_**His furniture was older, looked more like it belonged in the 70s than the here and now. It was brown and orange. He apparently was in to vintage, and I suspected the old car in the lot out front belonged to him. The kitchen had a table with two chairs, on old yellow refrigerator and a push-button stove. I opened the fridge, out of curiosity. I had him pegged for a health food nut, but inside his fridge were tons of leftovers, a carton of chocolate milk, and, to my surprise, a ton of cherry Jell-O.**_

_**I closed the fridge door, and then I remembered the case files in his bag. Could they have been what Brody was after? I went back into the living room, neatly sidestepping a stack of the Washington Post that came to my knees. He was still out. I had set his bag down next to him, but now I picked it up and opened the contents. I pulled out the first file on top and flipped it open. A little girl's picture stared at me, a happy little brunette with big green eyes smiled at me in the photo. I ran my finger down the details-her name was Laurie Anderson and she was seven.**_

_**But before I could finish reading the report, the good doctor stirred on the couch. I shoved the file back in his bag and looked up just in time to see him open his eyes.**_


	6. Chapter 5

_**CHAPTER FIVE**_

I woke up with a splitting headache. My entire body felt like it'd been hit by a Peterbilt truck. Every 21 seconds, someone in America gets a serious head injury. I hated it when I became the statistic. I carefully opened one eye. I could vaguely make out the bookshelf in my apartment, and the rusty brown and orange of my armchair. Okay, I was home. Now how did I get there? I remembered going to the Shannon residence. I remembered Morgan's face when I mentioned the words "Star Trek." And I remembered that feeling, the one I'd had for a while, of someone watching my every move.

But after that...nothing.

My head was killing me. I moved to sit up. But something cold on my chest stopped me halfway. Very, very cold. It stung through my shirt. "Don't try to get up," a voice advised me. "I'm pretty sure you've got a concussion. But you've probably already diagnosed yourself, Doctor."

Blurry vision, killer headache, slight amnesia. Yeah, she was right, a concussion was definitely a viable option. The voice was female. Well, now I was really confused. It wasn't JJ, Garcia or Emily. Which exhausted the female friends I had that knew where I lived. I lay back down on what I had now figured out was the couch and opened both eyes, letting the room swim into focus. And as my living room came into focus, so did the mystery female.

She was very pale, although I couldn't tell if that was my lousy lighting, my lousy vision, or the lousy concussion. Her eyes were gray. I had never seen gray eyes before. She had dark hair with a dark navy streak down one side pulled into a ponytail. She was wearing a light gray cardigan over a mint green tanktop and jeans with a big metal studded belt and a pair of black Converse All-Stars. She was seated on the edge of my cushion, her eyes looking at me with a combination of amusement and concern, arms crossed over her stomach.

"W-who-"

"Just a concerned passerby," she replied. "You should really watch where you're going, Spencer Reid."

"What happened?"

Her eyes clouded over for just a moment, so fleeting that I thought I'd imagined it, but then in that same instant, she smiled. "You missed a stair at the subway."

"I did?" I couldn't remember anything. Then I thought what she'd just said. "How do you know my name?" I demanded. "Have you been following me?"

She reached behind my head and picked up my badge, waving it in my face. "It wasn't hard. And your address was in your wallet, before you ask me that, too. Oh, and the key to your apartment was in your jacket pocket."

I leaned back and closed my eyes. "Thanks," I said. What else could I say? My head wasn't forming words in phrases at the moment. It was trying to process the fact that some woman had brought me home in the middle of the night.

She nodded. "You're welcome."

I closed my eyes, just for a second. When I woke up again, the lights in my apartment were turned off, and there was daylight coming through the windows. And she was gone.

Morgan would have called the night a waste. I looked at my watch. It hurt to squint to see the hands. It was nine in the morning. I needed to get back to work.

* * *

_**I retreated back to the Hollow to get a little sleep. But I couldn't get the doctor or the case out of my head. I thought about it. There were twenty of us in Washington DC. And out of that twenty, the only ones for sure that I knew weren't capable of such an act were myself, Alana, Merrick, and Lex. Merrick and Lex were too new to the game, and I would never hurt a child. Not when they had so much life to live. Then there were others, like Brody, and Tanith and Nikko, or even-**_

"_**Aura…"**_

_**I froze. I knew that oily tone anywhere. I turned around to see Zandra standing behind me. "Zandra," I acknowledged. Alexandra Casselton looks a lot like the vampires on TV. I think she models herself that way because when she hunts down prey, they know **_**exactly**_** what they're in for. She's got black hair, darker than mine, and it falls to her waist, completely straight. We're talking Crystal Gayle style. She puts her makeup on super dark, blood-red lipstick of course. She wears a lot of black and silver-studded stuff (fake silver. Real silver is the real deal for us). And she has a pair of black, knee-high boots that I would kill for.**_

"_**You're home late," she said, examining her fingernails.**_

"_**Chased a stray dog down Pennsylvania," I replied casually. "I like to get their blood pumping." I kicked off my sneakers with more force than usual. One put a dent in the wall. I'd have to remember to fix that later.**_

"_**You should try a human," she offered. "Tastes better with a kick of adrenaline."**_

"_**Not happening," I said. "Good night, Zandra."**_

"_**So I spoke to Brody…"**_

_**I let out a breath. "Really."**_

"_**Good for you, you know," Zandra said. "You have a better chance of getting close to the geek, to see what he knows. And if all else fails, he should be an easy kill."**_

"_**They don't know anything," I hissed. "And if you go anywhere near him I'm not worried in the slightest about telling Nikko."**_

**_She flicked something from under her nail that looked suspiciously like dried blood. _**"_**No need to get defensive, darling," Zandra said, looking at me. "Be careful, Aura." She said it exactly the same way Brody had, and it sent shivers down my spine.**_

_**Oh hell. I was going to have to babysit that stupid kid.**_


	7. Chapter 6

**_Disclaimer: _I don't own the characters of "Criminal Minds"-they belong to Jeff Davis and CBS.**

**Author's Note: A Reid chapter. I seem to get more reviews when I actually have a character POV that's on the show...hmmm, can't imagine why that might be :)**

**Author's Note 2: Why, oh WHY did the Cullens have to be brought up on the show last night? Twilight has taken over. Grrrr...**

_**CHAPTER SIX**_

For the next few days, I swore every time I turned around that someone was watching me. As we went over the case, and as I traveled to and from work (on the subway, now. After Morgan heard about me 'tripping and falling' into the subway terminal, he made me swear to take the subway or let him give me a ride-gotta love my "big brother"), I felt eyes watching my every move.

But there was never anyone there, of course.

My mind kept going back to the strange woman who had brought me home. She made it very hard to concentrate on my job. There was a part of me convinced her showing up was no accident. But as I still had a killer headache no amount of aspirin could fix (and I refused to take anything stronger), I was never really sure.

I was in Garcia's office again, staring at her light-up map. Garcia was flirting with Morgan, who was out with a team searching for Abby Shannon. Thinking it may have been an inside job, someone the Shannons knew, JJ had helped the local DC Metro police put together a search party of locals, and Garcia was running through names, searching for anyone of interest.

"You know, sugar, if you stare at that thing long enough, the lights start to move."

I turned to see Garcia, off the phone. She was staring at me intently.

"Actually, it's a trick of the brain-"

"Reid, you haven't blinked in the last five minutes."

I didn't realize she'd been off the phone that long. "Something about this case is bugging me," I replied.

"Everything about our cases bugs me," Garcia put in, fiddling with a hot pink pen that had a beak and feathers.

"Me too," I agreed seriously, "but not like this one."

Garcia's phone cut through the silence. Garcia turned back to her screens, assuming JJ had another set of names for her. She flicked the mouse and the screensavers came off, revealing AFIS, NCMEC, CODIS, the DC Metro database, and a few other databases I was pretty sure she wasn't technically allowed to have access to. "Goddess of the Information Superhighway," she announced. "Pay the toll."

I bit back a grin. Thank God for Garcia. If we didn't have her, I don't think the rest of us on the team would be as sane as we are. Didn't matter what the situation, Garcia could make you smile if the situation called for it.

I returned my eyes to the map. I could not make heads or tails of anything. I assumed that my attack in the subway may have had something to do with the case, as when I dug through my bag when I came through, two of the missing persons files were open. Hotch had agreed with the hypothesis.

Garcia's tone turned grim. I caught it, focused as I was. I stopped and turned to her. She met my eyes as she stood up and added a light to the board. This one was just outside of Georgetown.

"What's that?" I asked her as she turned it on.

Garcia sighed. "That's where they found the body of Laurie Anderson this morning."

Have I mentioned that there are days I hate my job?

* * *

I met Emily and Hotch at the Georgetown University hospital. The county medical examiner met us there. We had worked with Dr. Connie Mathison a few times on local cases. Connie had an affinity to talk in movie quotes, which Hotch always missed and Emily and I always quoted right along with her.

Today was no exception. "We've got big trouble in little Washington," Connie said.

Before I could say anything, Hotch held up a hand, clearly not in the mood for our games today. "Do we know Laurie's COD yet?" he asked.

Connie and I exchanged a look with Emily before Connie answered him. "Massive blood loss," Connie replied finally. "Based on body temperature, Laurie died about two days ago."

"Are the Andersons here?" I asked.

Emily nodded. "JJ and Rossi are with them now."

"Dr. Mathison, can you tell us anything else?" Hotch asked.

"She was well fed. Healthy enough," Connie replied. "Maybe a little malnourished for a seven-year-old. Nothing too critical. It's possible that she may have started refusing to eat." Her face took on a look of confusion, as if she wasn't sure what to tell us next.

"Connie, what else?" I urged.

She turned to me. "You should see this," she said finally. She led the three of us into the room. Laurie Anderson lay under the light on the metal table. She looked so small. Even in death, Laurie was a beautiful little girl. Connie led us to the side of the table, and, donning a pair of gloves, lifted the sheet so we could see Laurie's wrist.

I saw them instantly. "You're kidding, right?"

Emily looked, too. "No way. Hotch, are you seeing this?"

He nodded grimly. "Yes, I am. But I don't believe it for a second."

Even me, with my love of all things science fiction, wasn't buying this either. "Connie…what can you tell us about those marks?"

"I haven't seen anything like this in my fifteen years working at this hospital," Connie admitted. "I can tell you that the lab techs found traces of saliva in the wound. They also picked up some DNA that suggests a female."

"Her kidnapper was a woman, and she _bit _her," Emily clarified.

Connie nodded. "I can't find another mark on her body, which indicates-"

"She bled out from there, too," Hotch said.

Connie nodded. "It's right over the vein," she said. "She bled out in a hurry."

"Let's go fill in JJ and Dave," Hotch decided. "Dr. Mathison, thank you."

She nodded as she looked over at me. "I sense a great disturbance in the Force," she told me. "I hope you find this person."

"May the Force be with you," I answered quietly so Hotch wouldn't hear. As I closed the door behind me, I heard, "And with you."

It was there again, the second I got into the hallway. The feeling that someone was staring at me. I whipped around, looked down the hallway. God, but it was unnerving. There was no one there.

"Reid?" Emily called from the elevator.

I turned, shook my head, and ran to catch up with them.

As we rode up to the sixth floor, things started clicking. _Attacks that only happen at night, mystery bite marks, people disappearing without a trace and without anyone being able to see them_- "Hotch, I need to get back to Quantico," I said urgently.

He looked at me, eyebrows raised. "You have something?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I mean, maybe, I don't know." The elevator dinged on the fourth floor to let someone on, and I got off. "Soon as you guys can get back," I said. "I'll have it waiting for you."

And they weren't gonna believe it when I did.

* * *

_**I watched him as he grabbed a cab in front of the hospital. My whole body was sore, standing out here in the sun. Sunlight. It's okay in small doses, but I had only been out for ten minutes and already I was feeling it. He had sensed me watching him at the hospital. Maybe the geek boy was a little more perceptive than I originally pegged him for. He was walking with a purpose now.**_

_**I hissed under my breath. He'd figured something out.**_


	8. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

_**It was going to take that taxi forever to get back to Quantico with traffic at its peak like it was, so I knew I had time to swing by the Hollow and fill Nikko in on the latest. I hailed a taxi and asked them to drop me off at Union Station. From there it wasn't too far to the Hollow, and I needed to get out of the sun. I was in no shape to um, "run home," which would have been faster.**_

_**I ran down the list in my head. The doc had said female DNA. Carolina, Bekah, Zandra, Rainne, Tanith, Kaiya, Alana, Jeneva, Sarabeth and I were the only female vampires in a fifty mile radius. I knew **_**I**_** wasn't the one taking these kids. I knew Alana didn't have the heart. Carolina wouldn't. After thousands of years, she sure wasn't ready to settle down with a family. Bekah and Rhean traveled too much to want to have to try to teach a child to live this life. Zandra, Rainne, Tanith, Kaiya. All viable suspects.**_

_**Merrick was messing with a guitar when I came in. "Hey, kid, thought you'd be asleep," I said.**_

_**He shook his head."Nah. Couldn't. Did you learn anything tailing that FBI agent kid?"**_

**_"Kid?" I teased. "Merrick, he's not that much older than you!"_**

**_He frowned. "I was 16 in 1986," he said. "And he's like, what 27? So I'm older than him." He grinned. Teenage logic. _**

"_**Yes, Aura," an Irish accent asked, "what have you learned?"**_

_**Brody was standing in front of us, hair wet, towel slung around his waist. "If I had learned anything, I sure as hell wouldn't be sharing with you," I replied. "And they don't know jack," I lied. At least, it might've been a lie. I didn't know for sure. **_

_**I was going to have to go to Quantico. Even though Nikko didn't say anything, I was the unofficial detective on this case and I knew it. I couldn't say no to Nikko.**_

_**But first, I needed sleep. Just a few hours. The sunlight had taken its toll, I felt like I had a hangover. I needed to sleep it off so I could weasel my way into Quantico, to act like I belonged.**_

_**Ah hell. Sleep had to be postponed for the moment. I needed to go talk to Dannick first. Dannick was a computer geek of the highest level. Dannick was changed back in the 60s. I had heard rumors from Alana and Ewan, who ran with him back then, that he was on a team that worked on developing the Internet. Or whatever it was called back then. Long story short, Dannick's the guy to go to if you want to have a foolproof ID. And I really didn't want the MPs to discover that Aura Embry died in 1871 in the Chicago fire. Or well, that was the story I went with anyway.**_

_**That was what my parents put on my death certificate.**_

* * *

_**I could have used the mind tricks. I have a sweet Jedi mind trick skill set where I can make up any story I want in someone's head. But I don't like invading their privacy like that. Or forgetting what story I've put there. No, it was just easier to get the ID from Dannick, and then flash my ID and waltz right in. Through the glass doors just in time to see the man in charge from the other night head into a room at the end of the stairs and close the door. I grabbed a couple of casefiles and pretended to read them while I stood by a file cabinet, with a birds' eye view of the conference room. I could see the six members of the team sitting there, going over the cases. I tuned in to the conversation...**_

"_**There's actually a medical condition called 'porphyria'-actually, there's eight different types of the condition, but collectively, the symptoms include photosensitivity, seizures and hallucinations."**_

"_**So our UNSUB thinks she's a member of the undead." David Rossi, the older (I'm one to talk) gentleman, deduced.**_

_**I snickered inwardly. If only they knew. **_

"_**A vampire?" Emily, the brunette, said it like it tasted bad.**_

"_**Not an actual undead person, no," Spencer Reid continued. "Though the symptoms of the disease do mimic the commonly accepted characteristics of vampirism."**_

_**I listened into Spencer Reid's thoughts, and smiled to myself. He was systematically deconstructing the vampire legends, myth by myth. I was impressed by his breadth of knowledge. Part of me wondered how interesting it would be to sit down with him and **_**prove**_** the legends, myth by alleged myth.**_

_**Then I felt his eyes on me, and I snapped back to reality. He was looking right at me, though I knew with the angle of the windows that I was well-below his eyeline. Still, it was disconcerting, and I didn't like that feeling one bit. It was like he'd **_**sensed**_** I was in his head, and I knew that was impossible.**_

* * *

"Vampires are usually commonly associated with human desire," Prentiss was saying. "They can stand for something sexual."

"But these are kids," JJ replied. "Where's the sexual component? I mean, where in pop culture do vampires and kids mix?"

"_Interview with a Vampire_," Garcia said immediately. We all turned to look at her. She shrugged. "What? Vampires, Kirsten Dunst and Brad Pitt? I see the component there," she said with a glance in Morgan's direction. She wiggled her eyebrows.

I saw Morgan shoot her a wink. And then....I froze.

_Someone was watching me._ The hair on the back of my neck stood straight up. I almost dropped the folder in my hand.

"Reid?" It was Hotch's voice.

I blinked. "Sorry. I'm...um...that's all I have."

"Nice work, kid," Rossi said. "You've just told us our UNSUB is Count Dracula."

There was laughter around the table, but I didn't join in. Whoever was watching me...they were _here_. In the building.

I bolted out of the conference room the second the briefing was over, almost knocking over JJ in the process. "Sorry!" I yelled back as I took off. That feeling that someone was watching me had returned while I was in the briefing, and as soon as it was over, I got up so fast I almost knocked my chair over. I thought about vaulting the railing, but decided Hotch probably wouldn't like that so much. As it was, I knew they were going to grill me about this whole thing later.

She was taking off for the elevators. "Hey! Wait a second!"

She stopped. Then she slowly turned around. She looked a lot better in the daylight-and without a concussion. The woman who had saved me the other night was standing in front of me, looking a little less confident than she had the night before, in a pair of dressy slacks and a red blouse. Her hair was pulled up, but her eyes...the gray eyes stood out. I could've picked her out of a crowd no problem. "What are you doing here?" I demanded, breathless.

She bit her lower lip. "Um…I came to check up on you."

"Really." Somehow I didn't believe her, and somehow I think she knew it. "Well, I'm fine. So what are you doing here?" The FBI agent in me was taking over. I'd never seen her before, so I knew she didn't work here. So two questions, then, 1) Who was she? and 2) What was she doing here?

"You know what?" She opened her mouth to finish that sentence, and then seemed to think better of it. She closed her mouth, shook her head. "This was a bad idea."

She was getting ready to run. I needed to keep her here.

* * *

"_**Can I at least buy you a drink?"**_

_**I turned to look at him, one hand on the door handle. "Don't do that," I said, shaking my head. I started for the elevator, but heard him fall in behind me. Damn it, kid. Just go the hell away. Aura, this was a **_**bad**_** idea. I could see it in his head, he didn't drink. He was here to interrogate me. Damn it, I hadn't planned on getting caught!**_

"_**Do what?"**_

_**I sighed as he came to a stop right behind me. "Fall in love with me," I whispered.**_

_**He snorted. "All I wanted to know was if I could buy you a drink. Who said anything about falling in love?"**_

"_**No one. But that's exactly what will happen. It always does."**_

**_In his head, he was laughing at me. And yet there was a small part of him..._**

"_**That's awfully presumptuous, isn't it?" he said. "Look, I figured I owe you for not leaving me in the subway by myself in the middle of the night, so…" He threw his hands up. "Look. One drink, one…whatever, and then I'll leave you alone." **_

**Just walk away, Aura. **_**"Hey," I said. I tend to ignore the little voice in my head. Which explained the predicament I was in now.**_

"_**What?" he demanded.**_

_**I grinned. "Are you even old enough to drink?" I could see it in his head, he was trying to pump me for information. And I figured that if I indulged him a bit, I could get in his head a little more, see what he thought. If he was close to guessing.**_

"_**You know, insulting me probably isn't the best way to see if I'm doing okay after a concussion," he told me. "How about if we start with your name?" he suggested. "Cause I don't actually know it."**_

_**I decided to give him that one. "Aura. Aura Embry."**_

"_**Aura." He tried it out. His eyes studied me. I felt self-conscious. There's another feeling I don't like. He made me feel all strange. It was awkward. "Yeah, it suits you."**_

"_**Reid!"**_

_**He turned as Agent Morgan came over to us. He carried a brown file folder in his hand. He stopped when he got to us. "Who's your friend?" he asked. I rolled my eyes-he'd gone into Flirt Mode in less than half a second.**_

_**Spencer Reid thought about it. "My hero," he decided finally, and with that he pulled me into the elevator.**_


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of "Criminal Minds"-they belong to CBS and Jeff Davis. The title, "Hurry Up and Save Me" is a song by Tiffany Giardina. I don't own that either.**

**Author's Note: Chapters have been few and far between lately, my apologies. I'm trying to make up for it with extra-long updates. Stick with me, it's outlined and mostly written, it just needs to get fleshed out.**

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

"So what are you drinking?"

Aura Embry, Mystery Woman, seemed startled by the question. Or maybe it was the fact that I was now speaking to her, seeing as how we hadn't said six words to each other since we got into the elevator at the BAU. "What?" she asked. "Um, oh…" she scanned the menu and said, "Caramel vanilla frapp sounds good."

I got her drink, then ordered my own espresso. Today was going to be a good day to get buzzed on caffeine, I could tell. While we waited, I caught her grimacing. "What's wrong?"

She slid out of the patch of sunlight coming through the window. "Oh. It's stupid. I'm sort of allergic to sunlight."

"How do you live?" I asked, paying for our drinks and handing hers to her. It was 75 degrees outside, but her skin was ice cold. It must have been the fact that she was sick.

She laughed shortly. "I get out a lot at night. " She took a sip of her frappuccino. "That's really good," she proclaimed. She turned to me and smiled. "Thanks."

"Not a problem." My espresso was gone. In a few minutes I'd be buzzing. Which was good. I think better when I'm caffeinated. "So," I said. "You wanna tell me what you're really doing here?" I was consciously aware of my gun on my hip. I knew she didn't work in the building. It couldn't be a coincidence that she saves my life, shows up at the BAU with this case, and she was lying to me. I could tell.

Her pupils dilated. "I told you. I came to see how you were doing."

"Well, obviously I'm fine," I replied. "You know, the other guys on the team tease me because I have an eidetic memory," I started off conversationally. "I can recall everything I've ever read, and I pick up on a lot of details. It's why I'm so good at analyzing handwriting."

"Really." The tone in her voice bordered on sarcasm, a little bit of interest…and a whole lot of curiosity.

"Yeah," I said. "For example…" I nodded carefully to the badge clipped to her shirt. "That ID is a pretty good fake. There's just a few things off about it."

"That a fact." I watched her eyes. She tried to shrug it off, but I could see that she knew I was right-it was a fake badge.

"So either you tell me who you _really_ are and what you're _really_ doing here, or I have no problem getting on the horn with my bosses and bringing you in." I said, in the most authoritative tone I could put out.

Aura glared at me. Obviously, this was a woman not used to being challenged. Very assertive, very strong. Finally, her shoulders slumped. "Can we get out of the sun, please?" she asked me tiredly. "I don't feel good."

Had I been tougher (like, say, Morgan), I would have made her stay in the sunlight. She might have been more apt to answer my questions. But she looked….well, she looked awful. Human feelings trumped profiler/FBI agent, and I nodded. "Yeah." I stood up and she followed, shakily. I walked her outside and around the building into a patch of shade. She put her hands on her knees, breathing deeply. Then she looked at me again. "Thanks," she said. "Out of everything in the world to be allergic to…"

"It's photosensitivity," I replied, and then something in the back of my head clicked. Had I not just brought this term up in the briefing? _Holy crap….was this the UNSUB standing in front of me_? I thought for a moment…what life was I on now? I started scanning the alley for exits. I'm surprised she couldn't hear my heartbeat-it was going faster than it needed to. I wondered if I could somehow get to my phone and dial Hotch or Rossi before she caught on-

"I know what you're thinking," Aura told me suddenly.

I jerked from the sound of her voice. It was unexpected. "I-What?"

"I'm not who you have to be afraid of, Spencer," she told me seriously.

"Uh huh. Really. You show up at the FBI building with a fake ID, you match our profile, and I'm _not_ supposed to be a little freaked out right now." I replied. "Tell me something, Ms. Embry. Then what exactly should I be thinking right now?"

"That I can help you," she said.

* * *

_**Holy hell, where did **_**that**_** come from? "I can help you?" No, Aura, you're supposed to be threatening him to stay the hell away from you. You're supposed to be getting the scoop for Nikko so we can handle this OUR way without the FBI getting involved.**_

"_**On two conditions," I continued. God, I was walking a VERY thin line here. What was it about this kid that made me such a risk-taker? That made me forget everything I'd ever sworn to say or do?**_

"_**You're really in no place to make conditions," he informed me coolly. "A long day in an interrogation room for you is just a phone call away for me."**_

_**I raised an eyebrow. "With all due respect, Dr. Reid, I could disappear. You don't know jack about me. But I'm your only chance of getting your man."**_

_**He let that sink in. "Your conditions?" he acquiesced. I was glad he wasn't thinking about going for his phone anymore.**_

"_**Number one, that we start sharing information in the dark. My...allergy is making me miserable. It doesn't even have to be you know, like midnight or something Hollywood like that. It just needs to be after sunset. Or heck, even right around sunset."**_

"_**I can accept that term," he said.**_

"_**Number two-you are not allowed to tell your team I am involved-wait," I held up a hand as he opened his mouth to protest, as I knew he would. I tried not to smile, his thoughts were positively steaming right now. "I choose this term for everyone's safety involved," I told him carefully. "There are people that, if they knew I was talking to you…" I let the sentence drop ominously. "Well, we would both disappear."**_

_**I listened into the internal struggle-loyalty to his team, and his determination to find their criminal. Then, "I accept those terms," he said.**_

_**This kid never ceased to surprise me. "Really?" I couldn't help but ask. Not too many people got the jump or pulled a fast one, and I hadn't been ready for his answer.**_

"_**We call them, 'confidential sources'," he informed me. "And while I don't like to lie to my team…I can do it." Something tried to surface in his thoughts, but he shoved it away too quickly for me to read it.**_

_**I stood up, swaying slightly. Shade was good, but it wasn't a cure all. "This should be interesting," I said to him as I started to walk away.**_

"_**Aura." It was the first time he'd used my name in conversation.**_

_**I kind of liked the way he said it. "Doctor?" I said, turning to face him.**_

"_**This UNSUB," he began, looking at me through his serious eyes. "This isn't going to stop anytime soon, is it."**_

_**I shook my head. "No. It's only going to get worse before it gets better."**_


	10. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE**

Everyone could tell there was something off about me for the rest of the day.

I am not a good liar.

Emily and Gideon knew I was hooked on Dilaudid when I'd never said anything. Morgan could tell when I was having nightmares and when I wasn't sleeping at night. I am apparently very transparent.

But it was JJ who said something first. When I stepped off the elevator, she was on her cell phone in the hallway. "How's he doing?...Did you give him the meds?...Yeah, I'm off in a few hours. I'll see you then. I love you." She must have been talking to Will. I tried to slide past her, but her eyes met mine and she held up a finger. Stuck, I rocked on my heels while I waited for her.

"How's my godson?" I asked as she hung up and slipped the phone into her pocket.

She raised an eyebrow. "Getting over an ear infection."

"Ouch."

"He's stubborn like his daddy," JJ sighed. "He won't hold still for the ear drops." She looked at me. "Are you okay? Who was your friend from earlier?"

"Oh, her, um, her name is Aura," I said, but didn't offer anymore information.

JJ raised an eyebrow. "She seems nice," she replied after it became evident I wasn't volunteering anything else. "So, Hotch has a few questions about your profile. He wanted you to stop by his office."

"Sure, okay. I'll talk to you later."

"Spence..."

JJ and I have a special relationship since we're the youngest on the team. And I'm Henry's godfather. And then there was that whole thing with Tobias Hinkel…and that Redskins game…She can read me like a book, like no one else (except maybe Morgan) can. Instantly, she knew I was hiding something. She studied me for a moment. "Nothing," she said finally. "You should come over for dinner some night. Henry would love to see you. And Will's been wanting to try out his Star Wars Trivial Pursuit with someone who will actually play it."

I nodded. I wanted to see Henry too. "Yeah, just pick a night," I replied sincerely. "I'll be there."

It looked like JJ wanted to say more, but instead, she said, "Well, you probably don't want to keep Hotch waiting anymore."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Yeah, wouldn't want that." I waved to JJ, turned, and just about knocked myself out when I realized there was a wall behind me. Smooth, Reid.

I booked it to Hotch's office. I'd had him upset with me once before, in Texas, and I sure didn't want it to be something I had to live again. I knocked on his door and stuck my head in. He was on the phone, but he waved me in. I stopped just inside the door and waited for him to get off the call.

He hung up. "Sit down, Reid," he said. I tried analyzing his voice, but it was very even. I couldn't tell where he was going to go with this. "You want to tell me about your behavior this afternoon?" he said, in a tone that suggested I'd better have a good story.

I could have made up some creative story-she was an old friend, a classmate, a long-lost relative that didn't get out into the sun much. Her words echoed in my head- _"We'd both disappear"_. Instead I said, "I've been using her as a source." I could use that.

"On this case?" Hotch asked.

I nodded. "That night in the subway, someone attacked me. They went through my stuff. She brought me back to my house. I think she knows who attacked me. I think she's connected to this case. But I don't know how." That was the truth, and I hadn't given anything away. "She says she has information for me."

"What kind of information?" That was Hotch, the old prosecutor taking over.

_Crap_. "I don't really know, we didn't get to talk much this afternoon," I admitted. "Look, I know I'm the junior G-Man on the team, I know that I have a tendency to get into a lot of trouble, but I trust her." And I did, though her behavior made her far more likely to be our UNSUB than it made her any sort of help to us. "I want to know what she knows. If it will bring those kids home alive instead of in a coroner's van, then I think you should let me pursue this."

_Oh God_. Did I really just give Hotch an order? I should go start clearing out my desk. Maybe if I did it fast, Morgan wouldn't ask questions.

"It's your call," Hotch said finally.

Not the answer I'd expected. "Seriously?" I asked.

"Find out what she knows," Hotch replied. "We need all the tips we can get right now."

There was a knock on the door. Emily stood outside. "JJ just got a call from Metro," she said. "There's a little boy missing from Falls Church."

It was 2:30 in the afternoon. I locked eyes with Hotch. This one had happened in broad daylight. "I'll meet you and Rossi at the car," he told Emily. "Reid-"

"Yeah, yeah I got it," I turned and ducked under Emily's arm and headed outside. If ever there was a time to talk to my new…source…now was the time to do it. I flipped open my phone and made a phone call. "Is this Aura…yeah this is, oh, okay…we need to meet."

* * *

I stood in the middle of Potomac Park in the dark. I checked my watch-it was ten after eleven. Aura had insisted we meet here, and after the sun went down. I leaned my back against a tree-no way was I getting accosted from behind again. I was wearing my gun.

The little boy from Falls Church's name was Keenan Franz. He'd been playing in his parent's backyard. One minute, the six year old was throwing sand in an old tire, the next, his father had gone in to answer the phone, and when he came back out with it not ten seconds later, Keenan was gone.

A boy. Broad daylight. Not like Laurie, or Abby. Or Kaylie.

Rossi wouldn't let me live this down. I'd said our UNSUB operated at night because of photosensitivity. Yet there was this…But it _had_ to be that. There wasn't any other explanation.

_You just told us our UNSUB is Count Dracula_.

No I didn't, Rossi, because vampires-in the literal sense-_don't exist_!

There was a crack behind me, and I whipped around, my gun forward.

Aura stepped from the trees, wearing a pair of blue jeans and a Georgetown sweatshirt. "Don't shoot," she said, then frowned. "God I can't believe I just said that."

"You and I need to talk. Right now," I said.

* * *

_**I started pacing the park. I'd agreed to meet him in the middle of the night. I had had dinner on the run, a stray cat with no collar. I had cat fur on my jeans. I wondered why I cared what Spencer Reid thought I looked like right now. I'd been very, very careful not to be followed. "You spend your days hunting predators," I began. Little did he know he was in the presence of one of nature's best. I stopped and turned to him, crossing my arms over my stomach. "The darkest members of society." I studied him. He was staring at me intently. I'd never seen someone so focused, so…attentive. "Well…what if I told you that…that **_**real**_** evil exists?"**_

_**I never got the chance. I heard a low growl, and then I felt the air move. I threw Spencer to the side as Brody knocked me on my ass. He snarled. **_

_**Apparently I hadn't done a very good job covering my tracks. **_

_**I smelled hard liquor on his breath. I landed on my back, hard. It would have knocked the wind out of me, had I had any. As it was, it stung a little bit.**_

"_**Traitor," he hissed at me. One hand gripped my throat and started to squeeze. From my back, there was nothing I could do. I couldn't get any leverage to throw him off. The one thing I did know was that Spencer and I would die slowly. Brody loves his job.**_

_**I heard a loud POP, and Brody let out an animalistic howl. His fangs appeared, and his eyes clouded into the icy blue that made him so terrifying. His head whipped around, his hand still on my throat.**_

_**I saw Reid behind him, arms outstretched, his service pistol smoking. Both hands had a white-knuckled grip on the gun. But his eyes…they went from confusion to surprise…to terror as he realized that Brody wasn't dying.**_

* * *

I had no idea what had just happened. One minute, Aura was talking to me, the next, there was a guy flying through the air. Aura was on her back and he was choking the life out of her. Instinctively I knew that he would kill her and then me if I didn't act. So I pulled my gun. And I fired. Hotch would've been impressed. It was a kill shot, into the left atrium of the heart, through the rib cage. Maybe I should have shot to maim, but I just had a feeling that if I didn't get him first, he'd get the both of us.

But he didn't drop. He didn't…he didn't _die. _He should have fallen to the grass. Instead, he turned around, never losing his grip on Aura. He had unnaturally long canine eye teeth. And his eyes…where those contacts that made them so ice-white?

No, I realized. Those were his eyes. But there was no soul in those eyes. _Why isn't he dead?_

I heard him growl. "Aura hasn't told you yet?" he hissed at me in an Irish accent. "That little pea shooter of yours won't do any good, boyo." He picked Aura's head up by the neck and slammed it into the ground. Aura lay still.

He got off of her, slowly. He took a few steps toward me. "I'm going to enjoy finding out what you know," he told me.

"What I know? What I know about….about what?" I demanded. I didn't have a freakin' clue what he was talking about.

He got right in front of me, deliberately pushing his chest into the end of my gun. His breath smelled like Jack Daniels and…death. Like a body at a crime scene.

One hand grabbed my hair and yanked. The other ripped my gun from my hands. I couldn't help it, I cried out. It felt like he was crushing the bones in my wrist!

I heard a snap. Brody's head twisted sharply to the side. His eyes rolled backwards into his head. He sank slowly to the ground, the vise grip on my wrist loosening. His fingers fell from my hair. I landed on my butt, not realizing I had even left the ground. I looked up.

Aura stood above me. Her eyes were the same feral blue color as our attacker. Her hands were outstretched, her fingers curled in the shape of our attacker's neck.

I scrambled back a few feet.

She stepped forward, and her eyes returned to the gray I found so interesting. "Are you okay?" she asked me. She looked concerned for my health...and part of her looked...sad?

I couldn't speak. My mind wasn't wrapping around what had just happened. Maybe I was hallucinating. Maybe I had another concussion.

"Spencer!" she barked. "Are. You. Okay?"

I think I nodded, because she stopped asking. "W-what the hell was that?" I stammered.

She sighed, looking around. "You need to go. You need to go _right now_. Go back to your apartment."

"But-" There was a dead guy in front of me.

"That broken neck won't keep him down long, Spencer," Aura said sharply, getting my attention again. "I'll take care of him. You go back to your apartment. Lock the door. I will be there soon. And I'll explain everything, I swear! But you have to go!"

The tone in her voice was fear. Her being scared made _me_ scared. Going against everything they'd taught me at the Academy, against everything Hotch and Rossi and Gideon had taught me…I left a killer alone in the park with a dead man, and took off running for my car.


	11. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of "Criminal Minds"-they belong to Jeff Davis and CBS.**

**CHAPTER TEN**

The paint on the wall was starting to hurt my eyes.

I didn't remember coming home. All I could remember were Aura's eyes-the icy blue ones, not the gray ones-staring down at me. Then I was here. Shaking. Breathing, but barely. I curled one hand around my knees on the couch and continued to stare at the wall, trying to process precisely what had just happened.

And was coming up blank.

She'd saved my life. That much I'd figured out. From who-or what, that remained to be seen.

I started counting the digits of _pi_ in my head. I needed something else to focus on. _3.1415-_

A knock on the door. I jumped six feet out of my chair. The door opened by itself, and Aura came inside. Her sweatshirt and jeans were dirty, and her hair was slightly disheveled. She stood in the doorway, looking at me. "Are you okay?" she asked.

_Am I okay…good question_. I nodded…then I shook my head.

She bit her lip. "Yeah. Yeah, I figured as much." She sat down across from me, perching on the arm of the couch. "So…did you get anywhere with that missing little boy today?"

I blinked. _How did she-_

"It was on the news," she cut in. "We do get cable."

_I should really say something_. So I looked at her, and said, "What in the _hell_ happened in Potomac Park?"

OK, I more shouted it, instead of _said_ it, but I wasn't gonna apologize for it.

Her shoulders sagged and she looked down at my carpet. "I swear to God, Spencer, I didn't think anyone had followed me," she said unhappily. "I wouldn't put you in danger like that. I'm sorry."

"Danger." I said. More of a question than a statement.

She sighed. "One hundred and thirty-odd years…" she shook her head. "Screw it. Spencer, I'm a vampire."

I processed that. "Okay then." I could have understood it if I still had a concussion, if she was on PCP or LSD and that was how this little feathweight-looking woman could snap the neck of a WWE wrestler...but she'd just said she was a walking undead.

Her eyes shifted color, and her canine teeth got just a hair longer. My heart started beating twice the speed it should have at the sight of those icy blue eyes. "Yeah, I can tell you're okay," she said. Then her gray eyes returned and she frowned at me. She pointed to my bookshelf. "All those sci-fi novels, and you can't believe this? I asked you if you believed in real evil."

"You said 'What if I told you that real evil exists,'" I countered.

"You've met Brody," she said darkly. "Is that so hard to believe?"

I shook my head. "Not anymore," I conceded. As illogical as it sounded…somehow it all made sense. "That's why you're allergic to sunlight. That's why you're so cold to the touch. That's why we can't have a conversation until most of DC is asleep for the night."

_You've just told us our UNSUB is Count Dracula…_

She nodded. "Your profile the other day was right on," she admitted. "You're good at your job, Spencer."

I opened my mouth to object to her using my name. Only JJ was allowed to do that. But I realized…I sort of liked the way it sounded, coming from her. "So…Brody…"

Her gaze turned in to a glare. But not in a vampire-scary sense. More like an intense hatred. "He won't bother you anymore," she said quietly. "Or anyone else." She stood up and began pacing my living room. "God, you're a freakin' FBI agent, you're supposed to take care of yourself! But I've had to save your ass _twice_ now! And then I-"

"Thanks," I said quietly. She stopped midsentence and glared at me. "You know. For that whole saving my life thing."

"I just hope it's worth it," Aura growled. "I guess…you're welcome."

"That night you brought me home after Brody-" for I was sure now that's who'd been behind me- "attacked me…you went through my files. And you were at the Shannon house."

"Merrick wanted to go for a run," Aura said with a soft smile. I must have looked confused, because she just sighed and shook her head. "There's so much to tell you."

"Do you know who our UNSUB is?"

She frowned. "UN-what?"

"UNSUB," I supplied. "Unidentified SUBject. Our kidnapper."

"Oh. No, I don't. But you've got a pretty small pool of applicants," she said. "In fact, I can name them all for you now. Not that it would do you any good, you won't find them in any database. Pretty sure none of them have social security numbers-those weren't big back in those days."

"What days?"

She grinned at me. "Pick an era, any era. We pretty much run the gamut."

"How old are you?"

"It's not polite to ask a lady her age."

"Yeah…you're not really a lady," I countered.

"Oooh. Low blow. Fine, then. I'm 138, last time I checked." She sat down again, on the couch cushion this time, next to my mismatched socks. She saw the socks. "What's with the socks?"

"Grandma told me to wear mismatched socks," I explained. "Only time I ever wore matching ones I twisted my ankle." I looked at her. There was a question I had to ask, and I wasn't sure if I was gonna like the answer.

* * *

"_**So, how do you….I mean…"**_

_**I laughed. He was cute when he was flustered. "Ever notice there's a smaller rat population around C street and Lexington?"**_

_**He blinked. "So you don't-"**_

"_**No."**_

"_**Ever?"**_

"_**Only when I'm getting interrogated by good-looking FBI agents."**_

_**His eyes went wide. I started laughing again. "Spencer, I'm jerking your chain. Truth be told…I've only ever fed off a human once." I frowned. "It was right after I was changed. I'm not proud of it. Zandra thought it would be fun to leave me in an alley with a homeless woman." I sighed. "I was brand new, I didn't know. The thirst was…" I shrugged. "Well, that's enough of those gory details."**_

"_**How many more are there out there? Like you, I mean."**_

_**I thought about it. "Counting me…in DC there are twenty of us."**_

_**He processed that. "I don't know if I was expecting more or less." Then he looked at me. "How many are in politics?"**_

_**I laughed. "None," I said with a smile. "We're smarter than that."**_

_**He leaned back against his couch. "So…tell me about them."**_

"_**About who?"**_

"_**Your…uh, family." **_

_**I cringed at the use of that word. If that was the case, we were the most dysfunctional family on the planet. "Oh. Well…the oldest are Carolina and Nikko. They met in Rome during the reign of Caesar. Some circles say Nikko was there when Brutus stabbed him in the back. Nikko's from Crete. The two of them enjoyed a few years in Europe, they changed Zandra and Rainne during the Black Plague. Nikko found them close to death."**_

"_**He saved them?"**_

_**I shook my head. "'Save' is not in Nikko's vocabulary unless he's saving his own ass. No, he and Carolina wanted a…bigger clan. Strength in numbers, and all that. They came over with the Pilgrims, the four of them."**_

_**I thought back. It was hard to remember all this history. "Okay…let's see. Then Carolina changed Bekah during the Revolutionary War. Not long after that, Bekah was in New York and found Rhean, dying of his battle wounds. It was love at first sight, and Bekah changed him there. The two of them are together." **_**Or as together as two vampires can be**_**, I thought inwardly.**_

"_**So…who 'changed' you?"**_

_**I shook my head. "It was during the Great Chicago Fire. Nikko and Carolina's whole clan was in the city. Zandra was taking advantage of the panic. She found me running for my life, drug me into an alleyway…" I shrugged. I do my best not to think about that night too much. "Zandra, though, she's a piece of work. She sired Dannick, Ewan and Alana. Out of all of us, she's probably the most…hungry. Eventually she met Tai, one of Nikko's. She got really jealous when Tai changed Jeneva. She's got a temper on a short fuse." **_

_**There really was a lot to remember. "Brody sired Aiden and Tanith. Rainne's were Cade and Kaiya. And then the two newest members of our little…family," I used his word, but it felt very unfamiliar to say it, "are Merrick and Lex."**_

"_**What about you?" he asked me. "Have you ever…sired anyone?"**_

_**I laughed. I couldn't help it, and the confused look on his face only made me laugh harder. "What?" he asked, mildly affronted.**_

"_**You make it sound as though it's like having an affair outside of marriage or using crack cocaine," I said. "But to answer your question…no. I've never sired anyone."**_

_**He looked at me. "Would you ever do it?"He sounded like a little kid having the sex talk with his dad.**_

_**Again, I laughed. "Sorry!" I apologized, noting I'd given him the same look again. Then I turned serious. "No. I wouldn't condemn anyone else to this life."**_

_**I think he could tell it wasn't a conversation I wanted to have. "So…out of your family…is anyone capable of murder?" Then he frowned. "I mean, apart from making more, um, family members."**_

* * *

I must have hit a nerve. "You met Brody," she repeated. "I'd say so."

"What happened to him?" I asked.

"You don't want to know," Aura replied unhappily. "I am so screwed right now because of that whole fiasco it's not even funny. I shouldn't even be here right now. I should be on a train halfway across the country. On a cargo ship headed for the Turks and Caicos. Anywhere but here."

"A vampire took Abby Shannon," I said. "And killed Laurie Anderson." _What about Kaylie. Or Keenan?_

"One took Kaylie, too, but I don't know about that Keenan boy." Aura said. I hadn't mentioned either child's name. I frowned. "I didn't tell you about the mind reading," Aura apologized. "Sorry about that. I'm not trying to poke around in your head. Though I gotta admit…" she grinned. "It's kind of a fascinating place."

"No one's ever called it 'fascinating' before," I informed her. "What use would a vampire have for a child? Is there blood purer? Does it…do they…_taste_ better?"

"Truth be told, vampire kids are kind of a pain in the ass," Aura said. "I've met a few. Hard to control. I mean, think of the most ADHD, smart mouthed, rebel child you can think of, and they're about a thousand times worse. Even harder to explain why little Tommy and Susie never get any older. Hell, Lex is 18, but he looks about 12." She shrugged. "I don't know why a vampire would want a child. It's a pretty rare occurrence, but when it does happen, it's mainly because they…yeah…they uh, taste better, I guess."

She stood up. "I should get back to the Hollow before someone noticed I'm gone. I need to think of a good story about Brody." She shivered. "If Nikko…"

"You killed him." It was a statement of fact. And proven by the fact that she didn't answer me. So wasn't I supposed to be arresting her right about now? Hauling her in for questioning?

"And exposed our entire world to an FBI profiler," Aura said. She gave a short bark of laughter. "Yep. Which, by the way, is punishable by a very painful death, in Nikko's eyes."

"Keep the secret," I said. "I won't tell anyone, I swear."

She looked at me. Her eyes stared into mine. For a second, I thought she was in my head again. "I know you won't."

"Will you help us on this case?"

I shook my head. "I can't. I've already done too much. I need to disappear." She stood up and took a few steps toward the door.

My feet pulled themselves off the couch and trailed after her. I said, "You're the only hope those kids have of coming home."

She turned to look at me, and I saw tears in her eyes. "I know," she said finally. "And I'll try to help." She looked at me seriously. "Stay safe, okay? I really, _really_ don't want to have to save you anymore."

"You too," I replied, meaning it. "And next time you decide to show up at the BAU with a fake ID...call first."


	12. Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

_**I didn't want to go back to the Hollow. So instead…I took a page from Merrick's book, and I went for a run. Tears stung my eyes. I. Was. Screwed. I had broken Nikko's number one rule. I had killed Brody and destroyed the evidence. I had told an FBI agent there really **_**was**_** such things as vampires.**_

_**It would take a while for Brody to be noticed missing. Brody hunted by himself most of the time. And he had associates in Philadelphia that he disappeared to see sometimes. So I could maybe get lucky, figure out who was actually taking the kids, and get out of town before anyone noticed Brody was gone.**_

_**I hit the Capitol mall and sat down on a bench facing the reflecting pools. I should have called Spencer back, told him I was skipping town. Los Angeles was nice, I'd been there back in the seventies. I could go there, get away from Nikko. West Coast vamps and East Coast vamps didn't get along so well. No one would come looking for me.**_

_**I saw a couple making out a little farther down the way, sitting on the grass by the water. I squinted…the woman looked awfully familiar…**_

_**She saw me the second I figured out who it was. Zandra looked up, her eyes glazed white. "Aura!" she said. She tilted the head of the man she was with my direction. Blood dripped off his neck. "Want some?" The scent was overwhelming…I took a step forward. Then I shook my head and shoved the thirst away.**_

"_**No. Sorry to interrupt." Then I saw the teeth marks. They were faint, but he had them running up and down his arms, across his neck and collar bone. Zandra had found herself food to go-and she ordered take out quite often, from what I could see.**_

"_**You sure?" she asked. "Jeff doesn't mind. Do you, baby?"**_

_**He moaned, which probably was all he could do, I doubt he could feel much at this point. "No. You enjoy your dinner." Jeff must have had a rare blood type or something-usually Zandra was a lot more…vicious, with her humans. She usually drained one in one sitting. But she'd been using Jeff for a long time, based on all the bite marks.**_

"_**Have you seen Brody?" Zandra took another nip at Jeff. "He was supposed to meet us for dinner."**_

_**I stiffened. "No. Didn't realize it was my turn to keep tabs." I hoped she couldn't catch the waver in my voice.**_

_**Zandra frowned. "Shame. He's missing out." Then she sniffed. "Cat blood, Aura? Really?"**_

_**I didn't answer her. I was too rattled.**_

_**No, this settled it. I wasn't going to be able to go back to the Hollow. If I got anywhere close to Nikko, he'd pull all that information from my head, no matter how hard I tried to hide it. I took off at a run again…heading back the direction I'd come from.**_

* * *

The book was open, but I wasn't reading it. After the subway fiasco, I had actually gone back to the bookstore to get the _Trek_ book I'd planned to buy that night. But I wasn't reading it. I was…staring at my front door.

_Why the heck was I staring at my front door?_

I thought about Lila. And Austin. Both attractive women. Both, for some reason, attracted to _me_. Yet I hadn't felt this way about either of them. Kissing Lila was great, that night in her pool in the Hollywood Hills."You like me, right?" she'd said. And I'd agreed, yeah, I did. But I was working. Flirting with Austin at the club that night in Atlanta. Showing off my "game," as Morgan called it. The look on her face when we rescued her, "I called you. I called you." And then getting my card via FedEx, with a lipstick print on the back.

But my mind was focused on Aura Embry.

I blinked once, trying to get her gray eyes out of my subconscious, and reached for my knapsack. I pulled the most recent file-Keenan Franz. The crime scene guys hadn't found anything-no DNA, no footprints, no fingerprints. One minute, Keenan Franz was playing in a sandbox, the next minute, he had disappeared into thin air-

There was a knock on my front door, and it startled me so much I dropped Keenan's file. I stood up and unlocked the door.

A pair of gray eyes looked back at me. "Hi," Aura said shortly. And then I noticed she'd been crying. I stepped aside so she could come in, but she just stood outside. Her arms were wrapped around her stomach, so tight her knuckles were white. Her hair was falling out of her ponytail.

"Hey. What's wrong?" I asked, instantly concerned.

She gave a short laugh. "Well, it sort of occurred to me that I can't go home." Her voice broke on the word "home" and tears slipped from her eyes. "I don't have anywhere to go…"

"I've got a couch," I offered. "And…a bed. And…chairs."

"I'm so sorry," she apologized. "I keep telling you to stay out of trouble, and I keep bringing it your way." She rubbed her arms with her hands.

"I don't mind." I grinned. "I'm not scared of you."

She sniffled, and smiled. "You're not, huh?" Before I could say anything, she grabbed my arm and yanked me outside. Then, in two jumps, from the sidewalk to the fourth floor stairwell window, and from there...

I was on the roof. Of a building that had a fire escape…that I didn't use. I was standing shakily on the roof. Aura was wiping her eyes and then smiled at me again. "How was that for ya?" she asked.

I peeked over the edge of the building. Eight stories down, Mrs. Romano was going into the building. Her white hair was a long, long ways away. My hands were shaking. And I didn't feel so good. "What a ride," I deadpanned.

* * *

_**The moon was full. We sat on the roof of his apartment building. After a minute, he leaned backward on his elbows on the tar paper. "The stars are awesome," he grinned. He seemed to have recovered from his eight story vertical ascension.**_

_**I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. "Was that an attempt at a bad pick up line?"**_

"_**No!" Then he laughed. **_

"_**Really. You know, I've been around for a few years, Spencer, and that kinda sounded like a pick up line."**_

"_**Okay, maybe."He lay back on the tar paper, crossing his arms behind his head. He laughed again. "This is so cool!" He sounded every much the 14-year-old he looked like. I shifted position, looking up at the sky. I could see why Merrick liked being a vampire, for just a moment. The stars were so close from eight stories up. Each one was much brighter than it would be with only human eyes. And for a moment…I could sit up here on a roof in Suburban DC and not worry about the imminent death threat hanging over my head.**_

_**For a moment, I could feel…alive. I looked down at Spencer Reid. What was it about him that did that to me?**_

_**I leaned down, one arm across his chest. My teeth were inches from his neck, and I could hear his heartbeat like a freight train. But surprisingly…I had no inclination, no urge at all, to sink my teeth in him.**_

_**At least…not in a "vampire" way. "That line never would have flown, anyway."**_

"_**Oh yeah?" he challenged. "What would you have done?"**_

_**I hit him in the chest with an open palm. Had I put a little effort into it, I could've broken a rib. As it was, he winced anyway. "That." I got down right next to his face. "Only harder."**_

"_**I could turn you in for assault," he teased.**_

"_**You could…but they'd never find you for a witness." I let his thoughts filter through my head. He was freaking out, not because he was in the presence of nature's most perfect killing machine…but because he was **_**flirting**_**. With a **_**girl**_**. His thoughts made me smile.**_

"_**You're an interesting woman." He smiled. "You're dangerous."**_

_**My smile faded as I looked away, out across the rooftops. "Which is precisely why we shouldn't be here right now," I sighed.**_

"_**But we are," he argued. "Maybe this is how it's supposed to be."**_

"_**Sometimes I wonder about Fate," I murmured. "I wonder if it's real…"**_

_**He smiled shortly. "Maybe the reason you've lived this long was for this moment."**_

_**I sighed again. "Or maybe I've lived forever for this moment…and then I'll regret it later."**_

_**Then his hand was in my ponytail. And he was pulling my face closer to his. In his mind (I could read his thoughts like it was playing out for me on a big screen), the phrase, "Why? Does it freak you out?" kept replaying in his mind.**_

_**I looked at him. "Is this freaking you out?"**_

_**He blinked. "Very much so." Then he frowned. "Were you just in my head?"**_

"_**I told you it was an interesting place. I've been around almost one hundred and fifty years, Spencer," I told him. "And I've never, ever, met anyone quite like you."**_

"_**You've seen so much," he disagreed. He hadn't removed his hand from my hair, and I was holding myself nicely still about six inches from his face. "What do you find so fascinating about me?"**_

_**I bit my bottom lip. I vaguely remember that it was something I'd done when I was a human when I was nervous. "Because when I'm around you…" I shook my head. "I feel alive. Like I've never felt in 138 years."**_

_**I didn't have to read his mind to see that he liked that statement.**_

_**Very much so.**_


	13. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of "Criminal Minds"-they belong to Jeff Davis and CBS. Aura Embry and the rest of the vampires are MINE.**

**Author's Note: I hadn't done this in a few chapters, but THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who's been reading and reviewing. Much, much thanks to lily moonlight for following me over here from the CSI:NY fandom and keeping me encouraged. I appreciate it very much!**

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

I woke up the next morning on my couch. Once again, I was on my couch, and had no recollection of how I got there.

Then I remembered the night before. _Oh God. I fell _asleep_? If Morgan ever hears about this..._

"You're cute when you snore," Aura said. She was curled up, barefoot, in one of my chairs. "And no, I don't think you're a complete idiot."

"Get out of my head," I protested, but she was smiling as she said it.

"In fact, last night was one of the best nights I've ever had," she added.

"You've had a few," I countered. "And _quit_ poking around in my head."

"Well, I mean, the night I went out with Elvis in Las Vegas, that was pretty sweet. But nothing, _nothing_, like last night."

I stretched. "Today you should come have a look at the Franz crime scene with me, to see if you can pick up anything our forensics guys missed…" I frowned. "You went out with _Elvis_?"

"Don't get jealous, Spencer," Aura teased me. "Elvis was a player, anyway. And by that point he must've been on whatever he overdosed on, because he…tasted funny." Her eyes went wide, like she'd just revealed some great cosmic secret. "Oh God, I can't believe I just said that."

"I thought you told me you've never bit anyone besides the woman after Zandra changed you." I asked with a raised eyebrow.

Aura gave me a wicked-looking grin. "Spencer…I don't need to be thirsty to _bite._"

I turned beet red. Aura collapsed into laughter. I realized I'd been had. _Too bad, Emily, Garcia and JJ would get a kick out of her,_ I thought, gathering my things and nearly dropping them again when I heard the sound of teeth clicking from behind me. When Aura finally recovered, she said, "And as long as I don't have to spend all day in the sun, I'm good with going to the Franz house. I just hope I can help."

"Most girls would kill to spend a day in the sun," I said as I stood up, willing my face to return to its normal color.

"Well, Spencer," Aura replied from my chair, "I'm not most girls."

_I'll say you're not_.

* * *

Darcy Franz was a single father who worked at a convenience store about four blocks from where he lived. His wife, Marcia, had died six months earlier from breast cancer. Keenan was all he had left in the world, and they were scraping by. Needless to say, right now, he was an absolute wreck. I led him through a cognitive interview of the day Keenan went missing, while Aura ventured into the backyard.

"So what it is she, like, some kind of psychic or something?" Mr. Franz asked me after Aura picked up one of Keenan's toys and held it close to her face. I knew she was sniffing for a scent of someone other than a seven-year-old, but I'm sure to Darcy Franz, it looked as though she was trying to pick up psychic vibrations.

"She's a…forensic specialist," I said. _Special_ being the operative word.

I was still completely miffed by the profile. It had been sunny and 70 degrees when Keenan had gone missing, so clearly, darkness was not a factor. Our UNSUB was no more photosensitive than I was. Yet the other three abductions had happened in the middle of the night. Also, before they'd been girls. Keenan was our first male victim.

I'd never been so off on a profile in my life, and it was killing me. I kept waiting for the phone call from Hotch telling me that I'd lost my job, and that I should go back to teaching at the Academy.

Aura came to join us. "I haven't found any physical evidence of our-" she looked at me.

"UNSUB," I supplied yet again.

"-of our kidnapper," Aura brushed the unfamiliar acronym deftly aside. "Mr. Franz…had you noticed anyone around the neighborhood that looked out of place?"

He closed his eyes. "No. But we're close to the Beltway, so anyone who isn't familiar isn't really all that out of place."

"What about the school Keenan goes to, or the places he likes to visit?" I noticed she kept everything in the present tense. She was good, for having no formal training.

Her words must have triggered something, because Darcy Franz stiffened. I caught the change in his body language immediately, as I knew Aura had probably picked up on the change in heart rate just as quickly. "There was…a man," he said quietly. "God, I can't believe I didn't remember this before!"

"Tell me about him," I said, the profiler taking over. "Where did you see him?"

Mr. Franz closed his eyes. "At the Dairy Queen, down the street," he whispered hoarsely. "I took Keenan to get a Dilly Bar. Those are his favorite. We got outside…and there was a guy..."

"Where was he?" I asked him carefully. "In a car or on foot?"

"Standing," he said. "By the picnic table." In my head, a visual of the scene was appearing. It must have been provided by Aura, who was using her "Jedi mind skills" she'd informed me of last night, to project into my head to help me guide him.

"What is he doing?"

"Eating a vanilla cone," he remembered. "And he's wearing sunglasses…but he's looking at us. I know he is."

Before I could ask, Aura handed me a notebook and a pen. Right now I was glad she could read my mind.

"What does he look like?" I asked, flipping the steno pad to an open page.

"Dark hair. Not as long as yours. And it's straight." He buried his head in his hands. "I'm so stupid!" he vented. "How did I _not_ remember this?"

"You had other things on your mind, Mr. Franz," Aura said softly. "Like thinking about your son."

She put a picture of the smiling first grader into my head, seated at the sandbox. I knew Darcy Franz was seeing the same thing.

"Mr. Franz, if I get a sketch artist here, could you describe him again?"

He nodded, still visibly upset. "Absolutely. I remember him now." He frowned. "Except I'm not sure how to describe…"

"Describe what?" I prompted.

"He had these weird scars," Franz said. "All over. I mean, he was wearing short sleeves and they went up and down his arms, and up by his neck..."

Aura's hand gripped my shoulder. _Hard_. "Ow!" I yelped.

"Call your sketch artist, Spencer," she said. "Mr. Franz, I'm so sorry to do this, but I have a medical condition and I totally forgot my prescription. We'll send that sketch artist here ASAP, but in the meantime, I've got to go, and unfortunately, Dr. Reid here is my chauffeur."

"It's okay," he said, and I finally saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "It's okay. I'm going to write down what I remember anyway." He looked at us. "You two are amazing," he said.

Aura smiled shortly as she nodded at me. "You have no idea," she said. "We're going to find your son, Mr. Franz. Count on it." Then with that, she grabbed my hand and yanked me in the direction of the car.

* * *

"_**What the hell was that all about?" Spencer demanded as we climbed in.**_

"_**His description. The guy, with the sunglasses. The scars. That's your guy. He took Keenan." I flicked the air conditioner on. I felt nauseous, but it wasn't because of my "allergy". "God, I should have known. It should have **_**clicked**_**, it should have registered." I hit the dash with an open hand, cracking the plastic. "Damn it, sorry. The kids…keeping some, but then Laurie, and…" I swore again. "Your profile was dead on, yet again. The photosensitivity, the classic signs of vampirism…"**_

_**He slammed on the brakes, throwing himself forward, but I stayed rigid in my seat.**_

"_**Aura?" he demanded. "What?"**_

_**I gave a short bark of laughter. "I know who your UNSUB is, Spencer. Except you only profiled one person."**_

"_**What are you talking about?"**_

"_**This mystery guy from DQ, the one that Darcy Franz saw, **_**he**_** took Keenan. That explains the daylight, why it's a boy, why it's so off from your original profile! But your original profile, that's **_**dead**_** on!"**_

"_**You're saying there are two of these guys?" **_

"_**I'm saying I know who your UNSUB is, Spencer…" I leaned back in my seat, my eyes closed. "And you are so screwed."**_


	14. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: Good news. The rest is written. Bad news. I'm not particularly thrilled with this chapter. It does what it needs to, I guess. But it's not one of my best. And as it's been a really long time between updates...I feel like it's an epic fail. Like ya'll have waited a long time for something spectacular...and it's really not.**

**Author's Note II: I have to apologize for keeping you all waiting so doggone long. My RL is interfering with my FicLife and won't let me write. But thanks to EVERYBODY who's reading, who's reviewing, who's reading AND reviewing...who's just clicking on it because they think I'm ridiculous...and so on and so fifth. :)**

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

I paced the floor just outside the BAU. As Aura had explained it to me, it all made sense. Now the trick was how to tell my team…without putting Aura at risk.

In some ways, it didn't matter anymore. A human, an outsider, someone else knew about her world. So why would it matter if she continued to tell a roomful of profilers exactly who and what they were dealing with?

I could just tell them about the _human_ UNSUB. Let Rossi have his "Count Dracula" moment. Let Hotch wonder if I'd lost the ability to profile completely.

But I wouldn't be able to explain how he'd gotten Abby Shannon. From a locked home five stories in the air.

No. The team was going to have to know the basics. I ran a hand through my hair, and turned to Aura. She'd been standing perfectly still watching me pace. I didn't need to think out loud; she could hear it.

"You're right, you know," she said finally. "The bare minimum, they'll have to know." She sighed. "But I refuse to let you lose your job, your standing, with your team." She bit her lip again, a gesture I was really starting to enjoy. She shrugged. "Well, I'm a dead woman…a _deader_ dead woman, anyway." She smiled, though it seemed forced. "So let's go."

* * *

_**Did the thought of telling them about my existence terrify me? Very much so. But Spencer Reid was a good guy, and I refused to let him lose his job and suffer embarrassment. I would already be on Nikko's list...maybe more so than the one who'd taken the steps to expose us to begin with, with all this. I followed him through the glass doors, a little more at ease now than the first time I'd snuck in.**_

"_**Hey Spence," the blonde, JJ, greeted us. "This is Aura?"**_

"_**Hi," I nodded. "Nice to meet you, JJ."**_

_**Her eyes flashed in confusion, and Spencer's ears started turning red. I bit my lip, I wasn't supposed to know her. "Spencer talks about his godson a lot," I finally covered for us.**_

_**JJ seemed a bit more at ease. "The rest of the team is waiting," she said, accepting what I'd told her. "Come on."**_

_**Spencer and I followed her up to the conference room. I recognized Agent Morgan when we walked in, and he recognized me. His thoughts instantly turned to Spencer's love life, and I groaned inwardly. He was a good profiler, a great man…but well… a **_**man**_** nonetheless.**_

_**JJ closed the door behind us. I studied the faces around the table, and got a glimpse into their thoughts.**_

_**Agent Rossi was convinced that I was involved with the case. I think he thought I was the kidnapper. Agent Morgan was still preoccupied with whether or not Spencer Reid was…I ignored his thoughts, and moved on. Agent Prentiss was curious. Very, very curious. Thank God, though, more so about the case than about Spencer's love life. JJ was setting up for the briefing, though part of her mind was curious about me.**_

_**And Agent Hotchner…I pulled a conversation he'd had with Spencer a day or so ago about me. He was suspicious. Like Agent Rossi, he was sure I had the inside track because I was involved somehow. I could tell this case was getting to him…ah. He had a son that young. That explained a lot.**_

"_**Everyone," Spencer said, interrupting my mind reading, "this is Aura Embry."**_

_**There were a few mumbled hellos around the room. And then all eyes turned patiently to Spencer. He took a breath. I wanted to reach for his hand, but knew that the gesture wouldn't go over well here. So I stood closer to him instead, and I could feel confidence build a little.**_

"_**Our profile was dead on," Spencer began.**_

_**There was a chuckle from Agent Rossi. An image of a Boris Karloff Dracula filled his mind. I tried not to smile.**_

"_**But we only profiled one of our UNSUBs," Spencer continued. "We have two UNSUBs working as a team."**_

"_**That explains the deviance in the pattern," Agent Prentiss said. "The daytime…the little boy…"**_

"_**Exactly," Spencer said, pleased that they were at least on the same wavelength.**_

"_**And your friend?" Morgan asked. He nodded to me, and I refrained again from rolling my eyes. The guy was on a one-track right now, instead of working.**_

_**Instead, I turned to Agent Hotchner. "I…I know your UNSUB. One of them."**_

"_**How do you know them?"**_

_**I looked at Spencer. "Um…we sort of run in the same circles."**_

"_**Which circles?" Agent Hotchner demanded.**_

_**I could see now why Spencer looked up to Aaron Hotchner so much. The guy was terrifying when he was angry, but it got him the results he wanted. I was giving him the runaround, and he knew it. "Either tell us what you know, or I've got no problem sweating you out."**_

"_**Hotch, she came here to help-" Spencer protested, but I put a hand on his shoulder. This elicited a thought of **_**All right!**_** from Agent Morgan, and an **_**Oh!**_** of realization from Emily Prentiss.**_

"_**It's okay, Spencer." I sighed. "You might want to close that door," I suggested mildly to Morgan. "What I'm about to show you probably won't go over so well with the rest of the people out there."**_

_**Morgan got up from his seat, his eyes on me, his back to the wall, the whole time as he slid over to the door and pushed it closed. Then he stood there. His thoughts were thoroughly confused.**_

_**I got it. "Oh for crying out loud. It's the middle of the day in a crowded office ! I'm not going to do anything that crazy."**_

"_**Morgan-" Reid said, but Morgan gave him a look that would have even shut Brody up. A hard task. He had finally stopped thinking about Spencer's love life, and around the table...all minds were clear. It was obvious I had their attention, and now I had no choice.**_

_**I glanced around the table. "All I ask is that…that you suspend reality for just a few seconds," I told them. I picked up a pen from Prentiss's folder. "Mind if I borrow this?" She didn't answer, but I hadn't expected her to, anyway. With a look at Spencer, I took the pen and raked it, hard, across the back of my hand. Hard enough so even I felt it a little.**_

_**JJ cried out in surprise at the bloody gash. But then her surprise turned to sheer…well, I'm not quite sure what it was. Because the gash was starting to clot and congeal. And then in a few seconds, it was gone completely.**_

_**Rossi swore. Morgan looked at me. "What in the **_**hell**_** are you?" he demanded.**_

_**I grinned sheepishly at him, letting my canines extend. "Vampire?" I offered.**_

_**I heard something click behind me.**_

"_**Hotch!" Spencer said sharply.**_

_**In the time it took Spencer to say his name, the gun was now in **_**my**_** possession and aimed at Hotch. His hand was still reaching out toward me, as if he hadn't realized it was weaponless. I had pissed him off, I could tell by his eyes. It was a little funny that he wasn't scared. I handed the gun back, stock first. "Here," I said. **_

_**He looked at it, like he expected me to pull the same trick again, only this time, actually shoot him. I shook my head. "Agent Hotchner, please just take it."**_

_**He did, finally, cautiously.**_

"_**Maybe you should sit down," I offered. "I believe I have some 'splainin' to do."**_

_**At least I got a little bit of a chuckle out of Prentiss. Nobody can resist Lucille Ball.**_

* * *

She looked scared. I hadn't ever seen her scared, not _this_ scared, before. But since I knew that she'd basically just exposed the entire vampire world to Hotch and the rest of the room, it had to be scary. She'd broken the number one rule of her existence. And when Nikko found out (because I knew it was _when_, not _if)..._Before I could stop myself, I reached out and gave her hand a squeeze. She flinched, jerking her hand away in surprise. But then she allowed her hand to slip back into mine and squeezed back, though her grip was a bit stronger than mine.

"I'm going to help you," she said. "But…I'm not going to tell you everything. Not-not because I want to keep secrets from you, or because I'm being…hostile," she added, with a look at Hotch. "Because I think you just need to operate on a need-to-know basis and…" She smiled shortly. "And you don't want to know. I can tell. But…one of…us…is your-" she looked at me.

"UNSUB," I supplied again.

"Your UNSUB's name is Zandra. Zandra is one of us. And she's…well…" She shook her head. "Zandra was changed a long time ago. I'll spare you the gory details. But Zandra didn't want this life…and now she's really, really good at her…her job."

"Zandra is obsessed with family," I added, and Aura nodded in agreement. All around the table, everyone was in shock. It hadn't sunk in, I could tell. "She's been using these kids…she's been trying to make a family."

"Except we don't usually change kids into…into vampires," Aura took over. "I mean, it can be done, but Zandra's never tried it. And she's screwing it up, for lack of a better term. "

"Laurie Anderson," Emily said finally, and I nodded encouragingly. "The blood…the marks on her…"

"Zandra took too much," Aura said. "And it killed that little girl." She sounded disgusted, and I didn't blame her.

"And Abby Shannon?" JJ asked.

"Explains how she disappeared from a five-story window," Rossi said slowly.

"So Abby, Kaylie, and Keenan?" Hotch asked.

"They might still be alive," Aura said. "I mean, if Zandra is still trying to figure out how to do it right…"

"OK, but _vampire_?" Rossi asked. "Keenan Franz disappeared in broad daylight."

"Yes!" I cut in. "Yes, and it threw off our profile. But Aura met Zandra on the Mall the other night…with a guy."

"All I know is his name is Jeff. I can get you a sketch or something, if you want," Aura said. "He's Zandra's…well, to keep things simple, we'll just call him a boyfriend."

"My God," Emily said slowly. "Allergic to sunlight…active at night…" She looked at Aura. Unusually pale Aura, with pointed canines a shade longer than most. "This is _real_, isn't it."

I nodded. "And so is the danger to those kids."

Hotch nodded and then his whole demeanor changed. He was now in Unit Chief Mode. "We need a sketch of Zandra and Jeff-"

"No!" Aura barked. "I'm not giving you anything on Zandra. I'm giving you everything you want on Jeff. But you can't go after Zandra. You just can't."

"Hotch, just trust us on this. Getting Jeff will end this." I looked at him seriously. "Please. Trust us."

I wasn't used to telling Hotch what to do. And Hotch wasn't used to being _told_ what to do, and this was the second time I'd done it in less than a week.

He looked around the room. Met everyone's eyes. Emily's, then JJ's, the Morgan, Rossi…and finally back to Aura and I. "Fine," he said. "Let's go with this 'need to know' stuff." He turned to Aura. "Tell us everything we need to know."


	15. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of "Criminal Minds"-they belong to Jeff Davis and CBS.**

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

_**I felt better now that they trusted me. Even better knowing they weren't going to ship me off to a maximum security prison. But in the back of my mind, I was terrified. A feeling I wasn't used to feeling at **_**all**_**. Because I had just outed vampires to high-ranking members of the FBI.**_

_**And I had to pray they trusted me enough to keep my secret. Because if they didn't…I was dead. I wouldn't live to see another moonrise.**_

_**After this was over…I was going to have to leave town. Sever ties with everyone, with Merrick, with Alana…with Spencer. If I disappeared fast enough and far enough away…I wouldn't have to spend my entire life looking over my shoulder for Nikko, and Nikko just might decide not to spend the next thousand years hunting me down. If I was out of his town, I wouldn't be a problem, or at least that's what I was banking on. I decided not to tell Spencer this however. He needed to be fully concentrating on nailing Zandra and Jeff.**_

Aura and mine's first stop after the briefing was a visit to Garcia. Hotch, Rossi and Emily were headed, with the sketch artist, back to Darcy Franz's house. JJ was scheduling a press conference to put the photo out there. Morgan had decided to join us. I think mostly he wanted to spy, just to see how close Aura and I were.

A show we had no problem putting on. Aura held my hand the entire time. After five solid minutes, I was beginning to think it wasn't an act anymore.

"Do you drink blood?" Morgan asked, just as we opened Garcia's door.

"No, hon, never been a fantasy of mine. Though I'm more than prepared to take a bite out of you," Garcia replied without moving her eyes from the screens.

"That's not…I wasn't-"

Garcia turned around and noticed Morgan wasn't alone. "You're usually not this tongue tied, Handsome," she greeted Morgan. "And what's with this sudden preoccupation with my drinking habits?"

Then she looked at Aura. Garcia spent her days in front of a computer screen, searching for minute details. And I know that she spotted a few with Aura. She looked at me, and raised an eyebrow at Aura. "Is she-was he talking to-" She studied Aura intently for a few moments. "Are you a…?"

"She is, he was, and I am," Aura replied quietly.

Our lovable lab tech thought about that one a moment. Then, Garcia grinned. "Excellent!"

I blinked. I knew Garcia took the natural and supernatural pretty liberally, but…Next to me, Aura was smiling.

"When were you turned?" Garcia took the conversation over as if she was asking Morgan what she'd missed on _The Office_ the night before.

"Great Chicago Fire," Aura replied. "My undead birthday." She seemed almost completely relaxed. She turned to me and shrugged. "What? It's nice to be able to talk to someone without them flipping out…or assuming I'm going to tear their vocal cords out through their jugular," she added, with a pointed look at Morgan.

The barb didn't faze him. "So you do?" he said. One track mind.

She shook her head. "Ever notice the lack of stray dogs around town?" she asked him.

He processed that while Garcia chuckled. "Derek, with all the things I see on these screens every day, I have no problem believing that there are bloodsuckers among us...apart from the ones we see every day." Then her phone rang. "All Seeing Eye," she answered. "Hello, gorgeous."

"Does she always call Hotch that?" Aura asked. I realized she could hear the conversation through the line. I shook my head. "No." Then I grinned. "Sometimes she calls Rossi that."

Aura cringed.

"It's coming in now," Garcia said, "I'll get it to Jayje and have her plaster his ass all over the 6:00 news." Then she thought about it. "Or it might be better to see his face. Either way, he's toast." She hung up as a digital copy of the sketch appeared on her screen. "And there's the Man of Hour."

Darcy had been right. The man was…creepy. The scars were very unnerving. They ringed every spare inch of skin from below his ears to the neckline of his T-shirt. I felt hatred radiating off Aura. "Yeah, that's him all right," she muttered. "He looks a little different when Zandra's not buried to the hilt in him."

"Boyfriend, my ass," Morgan muttered. "I've had enough girlfriends…" he trailed off, catching himself, and turning a shade red behind the ears.

Aura burst out laughing.

"Those are bite marks, aren't they?" he defended himself.

"They are," Aura assured him. "Zandra uses him like most folks hit up the local bar."

Garcia hit print. "Take that hard copy to JJ," she said. "You all be careful." She turned to Aura. "Nice meeting you, hon. We should get together sometime. I got a contact down at the DC Metro Medical Examiner that could totally hook you up."

"And that wouldn't be a little awkward," Aura laughed. "I think I'll stick to strays. It was nice meeting you too, Garcia," Aura replied, and I could tell she meant it.

"And I want to hear the rest of that story about your girlfriends, Morgan!" Garcia yelled after us.

JJ gave her press conference, sketching details only about the man we knew as Jeff. When she finished, we all waited for the phones to ring.

Inside of ten minutes, we got a hit. "Rossi! Hey, guys!" Emily yelled from her station. "I've got a real estate agent that says a guy who looks like our boy signed the papers on a place almost a month ago."

"Right around the time the kids started going missing," Hotch noted.

Emily nodded. "Jeff Halliwell just bought a three-story house in D'Arbanville. And couldn't shut up about how it was gonna be a perfect place to raise a family." She wrinkled her nose. "The real estate agent could only describe him as, 'Messed up'. In fact, he says he thought about calling Child Services, because this guy just didn't look right."

I looked at Aura. "We got him."

Aura sighed. "That real estate agent shoulda called him in." She looked at me. "Before you go in there, there's a couple of conditions."

"I'll get everyone together. I think Hotch is on the phone with SWAT."

"Tell him to cancel that order," she said.

"What?"

"The less people that are in on this, the better, okay? It's bad enough you guys all know about it, but I don't want Hotch to have to explain why there's an unarmed civilian going in there with you."

"Unarmed civilian?"

She waved a hand in front of my eyes. "Yeah, Genius. I'm coming with you. Zandra _cannot_ be taken into custody, all right?" Her eyes glazed over with sadness. "I've got to take care of her myself."

"Aura-"

She put a finger to my lips. "You won't win this one, Spencer," she told me. "This is my job. I have to do this."

"Reid! Let's roll!" Rossi yelled from across the room.

I blinked. "I'll brief everyone in the car, Hotch'll think of some reason to keep SWAT back," I thought quickly. "You can ride with us. Once we get there, I can't see Hotch saying no to you going in. You're kind of our security expert right now."

Aura kissed me on the forehead. "I'm really making things difficult for you, aren't I?"

"Not difficult," I objected. "Just...different."


	16. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: I'm thinking at least two more chapters. Or one more and an epilogue. Either way, it's coming to a close. Gracias to EVERYBODY that's been reading and putting up with my and my slow updates and the writer's block...you are all awesome.**

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

Hotch hadn't been happy about not bringing SWAT. But it wasn't like our team hadn't gone in just ourselves on a raid before. We were all qualified on several different firearms, Hotch excelled in hand to hand, and Morgan…well, Morgan just liked to tackle things. I think he could sense the urgency in Aura's eyes, though, never mind the fact it was in her voice (and mine).

As we rounded the corner onto the street, I was caught up by the affluence of the neighborhood. "Zandra's been saving…a _lot_," Aura whispered from the backseat. "And for a long time. Figures Zandra would go for something palatial," she sniped, louder this time. "Damn that woman-again." And then she stiffened.

"What?" Hotch asked, his eyes focused on her in the rearview.

"Stop. Stop here!"

Hotch hit the brakes, and I just about hit the dashboard.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

She pointed. "Zandra's in there. Her and…a human…and Keenan, Abby and Kaylie." She was pointing to a large four story home.

"Hotch, this place is freakin' huge!" I told him as we pulled the Suburban into park. I bolted from the front seat, Aura climbing out the back. "We're gonna have to split up."

"The kids are in there?" Hotch said. "Are they still alive?"

She closed her eyes, then nodded. "Yeah. I can hear their heartbeats. "

I caught the relief in her voice. She was hearing heartbeats, which meant the kids were still alive-and not dead…or undead.

"Where in there are they?"

She rolled her eyes. "Agent Hotchner, I'm a vampire, not an infrared camera. They're in there, okay? You'll have to split up to find them all."

Morgan, Emily and JJ pulled up behind us. I followed Hotch and Emily to the front door and pulled out my gun. I felt Aura come right behind me.

Hotch turned, saw her crouched with me. I waited for him to say something like, "You're not going in there" or "This isn't a place for civilians." But instead, he only nodded to the two of us. I think he figured she was probably safe enough-probably more so than the rest of us.

"I want Zandra," she whispered to me. I wasn't going to argue with her. I also knew that if we managed to get Zandra, it was very unlikely she would go to trial or see the inside of a cell. I knew it was best that she handle Zandra. And maybe if I kept telling myself that enough…I'd finally start to believe it.

As I moved to go into the house, Aura grabbed my arm. "Wait."

"What?"

She looked at me, her beautiful gray eyes boring into mine. "Please, please be careful."

"You too," I told her.

"Reid," I heard Hotch say. "You and Morgan take Aura and look for the kids."

"No problem," I said as Morgan joined me and Aura. "Aura?" I asked. "Where do we go?"

She listened for a moment. "Here. Downstairs." She reached for the handle on the basement door, and to no one's surprise , it was locked.

"Here," Morgan said, but before he could kick it in, Aura had ripped the door off its hinges. She set it aside and looked at Morgan.

He grinned. "Nice," he said appreciatively.

* * *

_**I finally think Morgan thinks I'm okay. Never mind the fact that I've been around his team for almost a full day and they're all still in one piece and completely healthy. I know one of the kids is down here, I can hear the heartbeat, it's really fast. Theirs always beat a little quicker, even more so when they're scared.**_

"_**Where are we going?" Spencer asked me.**_

_**I pointed. "This way." This place **_**was**_** freakin' huge, as he put it. But I was pretty sure one of the kids was right over… "Here." I stopped in front of a door. "One of them is in here." I froze. "And that other heartbeat," I whispered. "It's in here, too."**_

_**Morgan took the safety off his gun and eased open the door. My eyes adjusted first, and I didn't see anything. It was a bedroom, but as I glanced around, I saw someone on the bed. **_

_**Before I could say anything, the house rumbled, and I heard breaking glass upstairs. Then a roar.**_

"_**The house is on fire!" I heard Prentiss yell to Hotch.**_

_**Then I saw Morgan go flying. He hit the floor hard.**_

_**I snarled, my eyes turning as I realized the second heartbeat in the room had been standing behind the door, and when Morgan had come into the room he'd ambushed him. "Go get the kid, Spencer," I told him. I took a hit from the guy, who I recognized now. I hauled him up by the shirt and pinned him to the wall, letting my teeth extend just a little.**_

"_**How'd Zandra con you into this?" I asked Jeff Halliwell. Jeff, Zandra's human lackey. Who would follow her to hell and back. I could see the bite marks on his arm, down his neck, across his collar bone, where Zandra had taken a little bit of him at a time.**_

"_**If I got her the kids, she'd make us a family," Jeff hissed back at me. "She loves me."**_

_**I rolled my eyes. "There are two things Zandra loves in this world, Jeff, human blood and screwing people over." I grinned. "Guess she accomplished both of those goals with you!" I slammed him into the wall for effect. "You son of a bitch. Letting her try to turn these little kids and when she screwed up, you hid the evidence. And then you went out and got her another one!" I threw him to the floor. He lay there, stunned. **_

"_**Aura."**_

_**I turned. Spencer was standing there, with a child who I now recognized was Keenan, in his arms. I could see blood staining his shirt. "Spencer. Is he-" But no, I remembered his heartbeat. Faint, but it was there. And then I saw the bite marks. They weren't deep. Zandra had tried. The boy was weak.**_

_**I looked down at Jeff Halliwell. Fury toward him, toward Zandra, toward who we were and what she'd done, finally billowed over, and I leapt for Jeff's throat.**_

_**I sank my teeth into his neck. All I was aware of was the blood coursing into my system, hot…the ultimate high. I couldn't hear the yelling, couldn't hear the roar of the flames, the heat of the fire. All I cared about was making sure he never hurt anyone, not ever again.**_

"_**Aura! Aura, stop!"**_

_**I vaguely heard a familiar voice behind me. But I was too far gone to care. I hardly felt the warm touch on my cold, bare back. "Aura! Let him GO!"**_

_**Whoever it was, they were right next to my ear. "Aura," the voice said, quieter now. "Let him go."**_

_**I snarled at the voice, but somewhere in the back of my head, something was clicking. I felt the body start to go limp, the heartbeat start to slow. I let go long enough to say, "He isn't going to hurt anyone. Not anymore."**_

"_**Sweetheart, it's over. He's done. We've got enough to put him away for the rest of his natural life. He's not gonna hurt anymore little kids." Another hand stroked my hair. "It's over."**_

_**Somewhere behind us, I heard the ceiling cave in, and a rush of warm air blasted us. "Aura, we gotta go!" That was Morgan, grabbing the unconscious Jeff Halliwell off the floor in front of me. He slung him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. Spencer grabbed my hand with the one that wasn't holding Keenan. "Aura, we have to get out of here."**_

_**I let my eyes return to normal, but kept the fangs. Morgan turned back to see if we were following, and his eyes went wide.**_

"_**No," I said, pushing Spencer's hand away. "I need to find Zandra. This has to end tonight."**_

"_**But the fire-"**_

_**I shrugged. "I've got time. Get that little guy out of here." I listened carefully. "Hotch and the others found the other kids. But Zandra's still here." I chuckled shortly. "And she's pissed."**_

"_**I-"**_

"_**Goddamn it, Spencer, get out of here before I throw you out myself!" **_

"_**Reid." Morgan again, from the basement deck doors. "Reid, come on."**_

_**He looked at me worriedly. But then he disappeared from the room, following Morgan.**_

_**I turned my gaze upstairs through the hole in the ceiling. Zandra was up there somewhere.**_

_**Waiting.**_

_**With a leap, I jumped through the hole, nearly ending it for myself prematurely by almost tipping over into a flaming piece of furniture. I grinned, despite the situation. Wouldn't that have just pissed Zandra off more, not being able to finish the job herself.**_


	17. Chapter 16

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

The fire was so hot I could barely breathe. I held the little boy in my arms, and he held on for dear life. "Morgan! Where are we going?"

He turned to me, sweat dripping from his brow. He hefted Jeff over his shoulder again. "I think I saw another exit back that way." He put his gun away. "Come on, Reid, let's get the hell outta here."

I started to follow, as Keenan gripped my vest so tight I thought he'd lose circulation in his fingers. But part of me couldn't help it. I turned, as if hoping Aura was right behind me. I knew she wouldn't be. I was afraid for her. Zandra was certifiably insane, and though I knew Aura was more than capable of handling her…I was scared. The fire hadn't been an accident. It blew up too fast to not have an ignition point. More than likely, Zandra had set it. It added a new level of danger to her game.

"Reid!" I jerked at the sound of Morgan's voice, and I blinked. He was staring at me. "She'll be fine. We need to get out of here."

I nodded. "Yeah, yeah I know! Where's this exit of yours?"

He led us through the basement. I think we passed at least three more bedrooms. Ridiculous. Suddenly I missed my apartment. Behind me, I heard creaks and groans as the fire weakened the rafters and support beams. And then ahead of me, the ceiling shifted, cracked, and collapsed, sending a rush of warm air back my direction. I cried out in surprise, turning my body to keep Keenan away from the heat wave.

"Reid!"

"I'm okay, Morgan, I'm good." I turned back, Morgan's worried face glowing in the shadows. I looked at the burning pile of wood, carpet and insulation in front of me. I swore, something I'm not used to doing. "Shit." The burning rubble took up most of the hallway. I wouldn't be able to jump it with Keenan in my arms. And trying to walk around was impossible. I turned to Morgan. "We're gonna try something."

"This is a bad time to experiment!"

I looked down at the terrified child in my arms. "Keenan, does your daddy swing you in his arms up in the air, like when you're out for a walk?"

He nodded, barely.

I nodded. "Okay, good. We're going to play that now, okay?"

Her voice was barely a whisper. "Okay." It amazed me the boy could even speak. But little kids are made of rubber. They can bounce back from anything.

I turned to Morgan. "Hope you can still catch, quarterback."

Morgan set Jeff's still form down close to the door, then turned back to me. "I wasn't the quarterback! This is stupid, Reid!"

"You have a better idea?" I looked at the little boy. "You ready, kiddo?" I asked Keenan. "On the count of three, and then Agent Morgan'll grab you. Okay?" I swung him back. Good thing he was a light little thing. "One…"

"Son of a bitch," I heard Morgan mutter.

"Two…" I heard Keenan counting along with me in a soft voice.

"Three!" I tossed him, underarm, toward Morgan. Keenan screamed, and for a moment I was sure that I had screwed up royally and Keenan was…but no. He was crying in Morgan's arms, and I was alone on the other side of the fire.

Behind me, the ceiling caved again. Now I was stuck in the middle.

"Reid, come on, man!" Morgan yelled. Keenan buried his head in Morgan's vest.

I shook my head. _This was ridiculous_. I backed up as far as the fires would let me. I let out my breath, and then I dove forward. It was a move Morgan himself had taught me, in his sad attempt to teach me hand to hand combat. I threw myself as high as I could get myself, arms outstretched. I could feel the fire beneath me.

Then my hands hit colder ground, and I rolled forward. I looked back. My butt wasn't on fire this time, I was still in one piece…and the fire was behind me.

"I can't believe that worked!" I said. "Statistically-"

"Save it!" Morgan groaned. "Come on, let's get the _hell_ out of here!"

We took off running. Morgan decided to kick out the glass in the doors rather than just open them, which was fine with me. If it meant getting colder air in my direction faster, then he could break them all for all I cared. The three of us stumbled outside into the cold night air. All three of us were coughing like crazy. Morgan handed Keenan to me and doubled over, spasms wracking his body as he coughed up smoke and dust, then he went _back_ into the house to get Halliwell.

"_Morgan! Reid!"_ I could hear Rossi yelling from the front of the house.

"We're-" I hacked a few times as we started walking again. "We're here!"

Morgan collapsed next to me, Halliwell's body in a heap on the ground.

Rossi, Emily, JJ and Hotch came around the side of the house. Morgan and I must have looked like hell, judging from the looks on JJ and Emily's faces.

"Are you guys okay?" Emily demanded.

"Just peachy," I replied, and coughed up a small chimney.

"Where are the other kids?" Morgan asked, laying back in the grass, taking several deep breaths.

"Up front," Hotch replied. "Getting checked out by EMS." He looked at me. "Where's Aura?"

"We passed her on our way out," JJ supplied, with a nod of agreement from Rossi. "But, she's not out here now."

_Aura_…I looked back at the blazing home. A fireball erupted from the attic windows, raining glass on the people on the front lawn. I heard the onlookers out front scream.

I hoped she was all right.


	18. Chapter 17

********************************

Disclaimer

: I don't own the characters of "Criminal Minds"- they belong to Jeff Davis and CBS

**Author's Note: Last chapter plus an epilogue to come. Thank you, gracias, grazi, merci beaucoup to all my readers and reviewers.**

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

_**I could hear her laughing. Sick, sadistic laughter. Typical of Zandra. I jumped on an end table, and monkeyed my way up a banister, making my way up to the third floor. "Where are you, Zandra?" I demanded.**_

_**Something nailed me in the knees, and my legs buckled, but I rolled forward and out of the way. I came up to face Zandra. She was grinning at me. "You're losing your touch, Aura," she hissed at me.**_

_**I shook my head. "At least I haven't lost it completely," I replied. "Jesus, Zandra."**_

_**Something changed in her face, then. "I didn't ask for this life," she bit. "I had plans! There was so much I wanted to do!"**_

_**I snorted. "And what, I begged for this life? Not like you asked my permission to change me." I took a step forward. "Zandra, look. I know what you were trying to do-"**_

_**Zandra howled and came at me. She took a swing at me that glanced off my cheek. I ran a hand into her stomach. "I know that you wanted what Nikko took from you!" She tried to kick me, but I blocked it and shoved her away. Outside, I could hear sirens-the fire department had finally graced us with their presence. The flames were licking up the stairs now, and it was a good thing I didn't have to breathe, or I would have died again from smoke inhalation. "This wasn't the way to do it," I told her. "You've endangered the entire clan! You killed a little girl, Zandra!"**_

_**She glared at me. "And you haven't? Ratting us out to the FBI? Getting freaky with your human boytoy?" She laughed again. "Nikko's going to tear you apart, Aura."**_

_**I shook my head. I hated to admit it, but she was right. I was dead. Then I narrowed my eyes. "In that case, I'll save him the trouble of ripping you to shreds, Zandra. Because if he's pissed at me for telling it to the FBI, think how he'll feel when you end up in prison!"**_

_**That had done it. I pissed her off. Her eyes changed and her fangs extended, and she charged me. But in an instant, my fangs slid down, my eyes turned white, and as she ran to me, I caught her under the arm and ripped into her throat. She screamed once, mostly in surprise and shock and anger than actual pain, and then with one twist, I dropped her to the floor. She would be out for a while, the fire would take her, and no one would be any the wiser.**_

_**I stood for a moment, taking in what I had just done. What had I told Spencer? That I wasn't a murderer? Zandra's eyes stared accusingly back at me.**_

_**Spencer. I had to get out of here. I turned for the stairs, but by now, the flames had consumed the staircase. I heard firefighters downstairs trying to put out the blaze. But no one knew I was up here.**_

_**I glanced around. Windows. Could I jump without anyone seeing me?**_

_**Just then, I heard a roar. Flames poured into the room. I dove out of the way…**_

* * *

Something splashed into the pool behind us. I rolled onto my side and looked over to see a figure floating in the pool. Aura came back up, coughing. "Aura!" I yelled, scrambling awkwardly over the mess on the lawn to the edge of the pool. She was clinging to the edge. Suddenly, Rossi was next to me, pulling her out of the water, gently laying her face first on the grass.

She looked up at me. "Hi," she managed weakly. "Hell of a day, huh?"

I didn't mean to. But her face…she was vamped out. I cringed. Rossi swore. Then he looked over at the crowd that wanted to gather. "Hey! Back up, give her some room!" He looked at me, and looked at Aura. Then he nodded once, and went to play crowd control.

* * *

_**I started to cry. Everything from the past few days just caught up with me all at once. And to see him look at me that way, even though he'd seen me before this way…I couldn't handle it.**_

"_**Aura…" He put a hand under my chin, trying to turn my head. I resisted.**_

"_**Don't," I whispered. "I don't want you to see me like this."**_

_**He turned my head, his eyes widening a little at my eyes…at the blood dripping from the corner of my mouth.**_

"_**I didn't want to do this!" I sobbed. "I don't want to do this anymore! I can't-"**_

"_**Aura-"**_

"_**No!" I pushed his hand away. "You haven't seen what I've seen. You don't know what I've done!"**_

_**His eyes started to water. "I-"**_

"_**I told you!" I cried. "When we first met, I told you not to get attached. Not to fall in love with me." I looked down again. "I'm a monster."**_

"_**No." he said it firmly. "No, you're not."**_

"_**You have to kill me," I whispered. "I can't live-or not live-like this anymore. I don't want to!"**_

"_**You can't ask me to do that." He looked like I'd slapped him.**_

"_**You're the only person I would ask!" I said. "If you love me, then you understand. You know!"**_

**_He choked back a sob. "I won't do this."_**

"_**Please." I whispered, pleading. "He's going to kill me anyway. He won't be gentle about it. I would rather you do it. They'll know I killed Zandra. I'm dead again, Spencer!"**_

"_**I…I don't think I can…"**_

_**I stood to face him. I held his face in my hands. "But I know you can. You have to let me go."**_

"_**I'm not going to kill you, Aura. I can put you in Witness Protection, I can smuggle you out of the country. ..but I am NOT going to be the first thing in 140 years that kills you! I don't want that on my conscience. And I don't think you wish that for me **_**or**_** for you." He started pushing me toward the street. "You have to get the hell out of Washington. You have to get out and go, far, far away from here. Where Nikko and Carolina can't find you."**_

"_**Spencer, stop!" I turned around and grabbed his shoulders with my hands, effectively forcing him to a standstill. To his credit, he didn't try pushing me away, knowing it was pointless.**_

"_**You have to leave. You have to get out of here," he said instead. "We'll float a rumor, that you died in the fire. Hotch'll back me up. You can run, get on the next plane, or hell, literally run away." He looked at me. "I need to keep you safe. I think…I think I love you." He blinked. "No, scratch that. I **_**do**_** love you." He shook his head. "Even if you don't want me to."**_

_**I had never heard anyone say that to me before. I had never been in love before…but the way he said it, the way his heartbeat never changed, the way he looked me in the eye…he wanted to keep me safe. I was nearly indestructible, and yet he wanted to keep me safe. Because he loved me.**_

_**The thought made my eyes tear. "God, Spencer…I don't want to leave you."**_

"_**If you stay here, Nikko will kill you himself."**_

_**I laughed shortly through my tears. "Thanks for putting it in perspective," I said.**_

_**He finally smiled. "No problem."**_

_**Before I knew it, we were kissing. I never dreamed in my 140 years that my first kiss would come from a genius geek FBI agent, but it was everything I had imagined it would feel like, and so much more. And for the first time since I was changed, I felt…alive. **_

"_**I love you, too," I said when I had a moment to breathe.**_

_**He glanced around. "Go," he said. "If you can…someday, when you can…let me know you're all right?"**_

"_**I promise," I said, wrapping him in a fierce hug.**_

"_**Aura…" he muttered into my hair a few moments later.**_

"_**What?" I asked.**_

"_**Sweetheart, I can't breathe."**_

_**I instantly let him go. "I love you," I said again, as my feet started carrying me backwards into the night.**_

"_**I love you, too," he replied, his own feet looking like they were itching to follow mine.**_

"_**Reid!" Morgan yelled.**_

_**He turned his attention to the other agent for just a moment.**_

_**When he looked back…I was gone.**_


	19. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of "Criminal Minds"-they belong to Jeff Davis.**

**Author's Note****: Well, here's the long, LONG awaited finale to 'Hurry Up and Save Me'. My muse has been in other fandoms, and this chapter was about 80% written but I didn't have time to finish it. But it's over now...here's the conclusion. Thanks for reading!**

**CHAPTER 18: **

_**I didn't even go back to the Hollow to get my things. Instead, I went downtown to the Greyhound station, and bought myself a ticket west. There were enough stops along the way that I could jump off, sleep a little, and then get back on. I needed to get as far away from here as I could.**_

"_**Running away?" **_

_**I whipped around to see Merrick and Alana standing behind me. Merrick crossed his arms over his chest. "You're leaving?" he demanded.**_

_**I shrugged weakly. "I can't stay here."**_

"_**No, you can't," Alana agreed. "Killing one of our group, revealing yourself to the FBI-you don't have to say anything, I can read you like a book, I know you did-"**_

_**I blushed. "-and falling in love with a human."**_

"_**Ew," Merrick said helpfully. But he grinned, and I knew he didn't mean it.**_

_**Alana, the closest thing I had to a friend, shook her head. "You screwed up, Aura," she said.**_

"_**Really?" I couldn't help but smile. "Ya think?"**_

_**I finally got her to smile. I knew she'd been BS'ing me the whole time, but I felt like I deserved it. "I'm a screw up," I admitted. "And I'm getting out of here before I do even more damage."**_

"_**Or damage gets done to you," Merrick added. I reached out to cuff him on the head, but he zipped out of the way. Little brothers...**_

"_**Take care, you guys," I said. "Maybe I'll write. I don't think Nikko can get a bead on me from a piece of paper."**_

"_**What's the point in writing?" Alana asked, sitting down next to me on the curb. "Nobody here wants to talk to you anyway."**_

"_**And seeing as how me and Alana are comin' with you," Merrick jumped in with a grin, "we'll be right there!"**_

"_**Wait…" I held up a hand. "You guys are coming with, huh?"**_

_**Alana shrugged. "I never liked it here anyway. Too much action." She flipped her bobby-sox ponytail over her shoulder. "I could use a beach."**_

_**A pause. Then the three of us burst out laughing. But I stopped. I had meant what I said to Spencer-I loved him. But I couldn't stay, and put his team in jeopardy. I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to him. I could only hope he wouldn't forget me. The bus pulled up, and Alana and Merrick climbed on. I started for the door, but I happened glanced over to the rack to my right. Something there caught my eye.**_

_**"Aura?" Alana asked. "Are you coming?"**_

_**I grinned. "I'll be right back."**_

* * *

I sat at my desk, staring into space. And I must have been doing a good job, because Morgan tapped me on the shoulder and I about jumped out of my skin. We had gotten out of the debriefing about a half hour ago, all of us trying to figure out how exactly we were going to write this one up. In the end, we deemed 'assistance from an outside source' an acceptable line of crap.

"Heard anything?"

I shook my head. I knew I wouldn't. Aura couldn't stay, it wasn't safe. For her. I didn't care what happened to me, I realized with a start. But I didn't want anything to happen to her.

_So this is what love feels like_, I thought. Funny, I'd never felt it like this before. "No," I replied, the easy answer to Morgan's question.

He accepted that. "Don't worry, kid," he said. "I'm sure we'll cross paths with her again someday." He offered me a smile, and I returned it. "We're gonna go down to Mason's, grab a beer. Prentiss brought Star Wars Trivial Pursuit. You in?"

_Maybe he was right. Maybe I'll see her again. If you love something, let it go, right?_ I blinked, realizing Morgan had repeated his question. "Yeah, yeah I'm in," I said. I reached for my bag, and something fell out of the pocket. It was a picture of a very pale person on a beach, and the top made a cheesy joke about tanning. On the back were four words.

_Greetings from sunny LA_.

I smiled and tucked the postcard into my bag and ran to catch up with Morgan.

_Maybe I will see her again._

It's not like we _never_ had cases in California. And I had a sneaky suspicion that Aura would somehow just know if I was out there…

* * *

_**The next morning in a hotel in Atlanta, I bought a copy of the Journal-Constitution.**_

**FBI HALTS STRING OF CHILD ABDUCTIONS.**

_**The picture accompanying the article was the one of Spencer, holding Keenan Franz, Morgan and the burning building right behind them. Rossi and I had been cleverly cropped out. I had a sneaky suspicion Garcia was behind it. Spencer looked like a movie action star-his hair tousled, his face sweaty. It made him look heroic. **_

_**I smiled. "My hero," I whispered. **_


End file.
